Pub closures in Scotland accelerating as landlords 'battling to stay afloat' due to financial pressures

The number of pub closures in Scotland is accelerating as landlords are left "battling to stay afloat" due to financial pressures.

Figures shared with the Record show 56 bars closed for good last year, compared to 42 that shut down in 2023.

Around 1,000 pubs have closed north of the border over the last 20 years, with the total dropping from the more than 5,000 operating in 2004.

Campaigners are now calling on the SNP Government to recognise the vital community role played by pubs by reforming the "unfair" business rates system which benefits online retailers.

There are also calls to close a planning loophole which allows freestanding public houses to be demolished without local communities being offered a chance to take them over first.

The licensed trade is struggling to deal with a combination of rising energy prices and stubbornly high inflation which has increased costs across the board.

Customers are also going out less due to the cost-of-living crisis which has hammered household budgets.

The Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA), a consumer organisation which promotes traditional pubs, said the Government could do more to support the industry.

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Ash Corbett-Collins, CAMRA chairman, said: "Scottish pubs are battling to stay afloat against a horrendous tide of financial challenges, including spiralling cost of goods and high energy bills.

“On top of these challenges it seems that the Scottish Government doesn’t fully recognise the vital role that our locals play as social hubs and a crucial part of our social fabric, fostering a greater sense of community in towns, villages and cities across the country.

“Ministers should rule out a damaging return to alcohol advertising restrictions which would penalise local pubs, breweries and moderate drinkers and close the loophole in planning laws which allow freestanding pubs to be demolished without local communities having a chance to have their say or save them as a community-run asset.

“We are also urging the Scottish Government to fundamentally reform the current unfair business rates system, end the huge overpayment that pubs are forced to pay and level the playing field for between bricks-and-mortar and online businesses so our pubs, social clubs, and taprooms can survive and thrive.”

A Scottish Government spokesman said: "Pubs are at the heart of thousands of communities up and down the country as well as a valued part of our hospitality sector. We can and will do all we can to help them to evolve and thrive for a sustainable future.

"The Scottish Budget 2025-26 delivers a competitive non-domestic rates regime including a freeze to the Basic Property Rate delivering the lowest such rate in the UK for the seventh year in a row and maintaining the lowest property tax rate in the UK for over 95% of non-domestic properties in Scotland.

"The draft Budget also offers a package of reliefs worth £731million including 40% relief - capped at £110,000 per business - for hospitality premises with a rateable value up to £51,000, as well as the most generous small business rates relief in the UK.”

It is estimated landlords make just 12p on each pint sold on average due to the cost pressures on pub businesses.

The average price of a pint of draught lager rose to £4.79 last year according to the Office for National Statistics.

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