How to put the fizz back into New Year
Around 32m UK adults turned their backs on pubs and clubs this New Year's Eve in favour of a night in - leaving bar takings down by as much as 20% on the year before.
For many the rot set in as far back as the much-hyped millennium when high ticket prices and transport fears led to an explosion in house parties.
Even the extension to New Year drinking hours has not stemmed the tide of people choosing staying in over going out.
The finger has been pointed at everything from binge drinkers and battling yobs to taxi charges and the growth in home entertainment.
Some lay the blame closer to home.
"It's our own fault," admitted licensee David Smithwick on the front page of the New Year edition of the Morning Advertiser.
Smithwick, who runs Langtrys pub in Stone, Staffordshire, says he believes the trade is to blame for scaring punters away with greedy demands in the run-up to Millennium Eve in 1999.
A public perception that pubs and clubs were cashing in with higher entrance and drinks prices prompted many people to stay at home - something they clearly enjoyed.
Smithwick says: "We shot ourselves in the foot during the millennium by trying to milk every penny from people. Now New Year's Eve is very much in decline and it is a crying shame."
Mark McQuater, chief executive of managed pub company Barracuda, says: "New Year's Eve
has never been the same since 2000, when the trade blew its credibility by asking huge fees to get into pubs."
McQuater adds: "There are more parties at home and that is a fact."
Did the big night spell big business at the bar?
Tim Reynolds, The Birchgrove, Cardiff "We had a brilliant New Year's Eve, it was great fun. We controlled the night by selling tickets so although all the tickets sold out it wasn't overcrowded."
Shaun Finn, The Beech Tree, Kirk Ella, East Yorkshire "We had a slow day but the night picked up. We sold tickets for £10 each so we knew how many people would be coming."
James Blake, Goat and Tricycle, Bournemouth, Dorset "We sent some staff home at 10.30pm on the night. We had a busy Friday on the night before New Year's Eve but the night itself was slow. I think a lot of people organised house parties. It was different to last year when we were very busy."
Linda Smith, Old House at Home, Milton, Hampshire "Going by the last couple of years, business is definitely not what it used to be. We were busy but not the same as a few years ago. One problem we have is getting taxis for people to go home. I've had to give people lifts because of the lack of cabs. It's also cheaper to get stuff from the supermarkets and baby-sitters are too expensive so families are staying in."
John Keary, Barley Mow, Shepperton, Middlesex "We had a brilliant night. I had a good band on and we didn't charge anybody to come in. I believe in the old traditions. Why should you charge someone to come into their local just because it is New Year's Eve? It cost me a bit of money but I look at it as payback for the rest of the year. That's why we always get busy."
Wayne Massey, The Crown, Hyde Lea, Staffordshire "We did very well but we are a village pub and we organised it with tickets for £3.50. We had a buffet and raffle and limited the tickets so the bar was busy enough for us but not so busy people were cramped. It also meant we could hand-pick who came in."
