Editing Pub (section)

=== Decline in Britain ===
[[File:The Red Lion being demolished - geograph.org.uk - 900911.jpg|thumb|The Red Lion, a pub in [[Nottingham]], being demolished in 2008]]

The number of pubs in the UK has declined year on year at least since 1982.<ref name="BBPA">British Beer and Pub Association – Statistics, {{cite web |title=UK Beer Market |url=http://www.beerandpub.com/statistics |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141124133934/http://www.beerandpub.com/statistics |archive-date=24 November 2014 |access-date=24 November 2014}}</ref> Various reasons are put forward for this, such as the failure of some establishments to keep up with customer requirements.<ref>{{cite web |date=29 August 2013 |title=4000 pubs stuck in the 1980s |url=http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/4000-pubs-stuck-1980s-likely-5798582 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151016024950/http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/4000-pubs-stuck-1980s-likely-5798582 |archive-date=16 October 2015 |access-date=1 May 2015}}</ref> Others claim the [[Smoking bans in the United Kingdom|smoking ban of 2007]], intense competition from gastro-pubs, the availability of cheap alcohol in supermarkets or the general economic climate are either to blame, or are factors in the decline.<ref>{{cite news |date=28 August 2010 |title=Last orders for struggling Welsh pubs |publisher=BBC |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-11087891 |url-status=live |access-date=1 May 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151016024951/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-11087891 |archive-date=16 October 2015}}</ref> Changes in demographics may be an additional factor.<ref>{{cite news |date=6 March 2015 |title=Why are British pubs closing down? (video) |publisher=BBC |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-31761269 |url-status=live |access-date=1 May 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150522030922/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-31761269 |archive-date=22 May 2015}}</ref> In 2015 the rate of pub closures came under the scrutiny of Parliament in the UK, with a promise of legislation to improve relations between owners and tenants.<ref>{{cite web |title=Pub companies, pub tenants & pub closures: recent developments – Commons Library Standard Note |url=http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/research/briefing-papers/SN07074/pub-companies-pub-tenants-pub-closures-recent-developments |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150227065542/http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/research/briefing-papers/SN07074/pub-companies-pub-tenants-pub-closures-recent-developments |archive-date=27 February 2015 |access-date=1 May 2015}}</ref> The Lost Pubs Project listed 42,519 closed English pubs on 6 August 2023, with photographs of over 29,000.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Lost Pubs Project |url=https://www.closedpubs.co.uk/ |access-date=9 August 2023}}</ref> In the fifteen years to 2017 a quarter of London's pubs had closed. The closures have been ascribed to factors such as changing tastes and a rise in the cost of beer due to tax increases. Some London boroughs where there has been an increase in [[British Muslim]] population—[[Islam]] forbids alcohol to its adherents—have seen a high amount of closures.<ref>{{cite news |date=24 August 2017 |title=Why London's pubs are disappearing |newspaper=The Economist |url=https://www.economist.com/news/britain/21727076-quarter-citys-alehouses-have-closed-past-15-years-why-londons-pubs-are |url-status=live |access-date=25 August 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170825145930/https://www.economist.com/news/britain/21727076-quarter-citys-alehouses-have-closed-past-15-years-why-londons-pubs-are |archive-date=25 August 2017|url-access=subscription}}</ref>

The industry suffered a major decline from 2020, due to reduced trade during the [[Covid pandemic]], followed by the [[2021–present United Kingdom cost of living crisis|wave of inflation]] that increased prices. By June 2022, pub numbers in England and Wales had fallen to a record low of 39,970, a loss of 7,000 in 10 years.<ref>{{cite news |date=4 July 2022 |title=Pub numbers fall to lowest on record |publisher=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-62031833 |access-date=5 July 2022}}</ref> Pubs also found it difficult to hire enough staff, with 142,000 jobs unfilled in the accommodation and food services sector by 2023.<ref>{{Cite news |date=3 July 2022 |title=Pub numbers fall to lowest on record |language=en-GB |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/business-62031833 |access-date=9 August 2023}}</ref> Figures published in 2023 showed that the rate of pub loss, equivalent to two closures a day, was increasing and that 39,404 pubs in England and Wales remained open at the end of June.<ref>{{cite news|publisher=BBC News|last=Slow|first=Oliver|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-66839984|title=Two pubs a day disappearing in England and Wales|date=18 September 2023|access-date=18 September 2023}}</ref>