The Yorkshire brewer confirmed its Halifax and Sheffield venues closed last week (Friday 6 November), while its flagship bar in Hebden Bridge remains open.
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‘Carefully considered’
The closures come despite double-digit growth in on-trade sales volumes over the past year, while the brewery’s off-trade market share has increased from approximately 3.8% to 4.3%.
A Vocation spokesperson said: “The closures have been a difficult, carefully considered decision and will enable us to concentrate resources and investment on building on Vocation’s momentum during the past year.”
The brewery said it was working closely with employees affected by the closures and providing support during the changes.
The announcement comes amid wider pressure on the pub sector, with the British Beer & Pub Association (BBPA) recently warning that 360 pubs could close across the UK by the end of 2026.
According to the trade body, 295 pubs had permanently closed by the end of September, with around 5,000 jobs potentially at risk across the year.
Growth strategy
Vocation plans to focus investment on expanding distribution of its core beer range, led by its Life & Death IPA brand.
The business is making its largest brand investment to date in Life & Death, alongside increasing production capacity through additional brewing tanks and a new pilot brewery to accelerate product development.
The plans follow the brewer’s launch of a new seasonal beer range earlier this year, aimed at helping pub operators diversify their drinks offer.
The spokesperson added: “Our plans are to expand our core range of premium beers and to make these available through even more places across the UK. Prioritising investment towards that expansion is an important part of this.”
