From: Dr. Beau Webber [J_dot_B_dot_W_dot_Webber_at_kent_dot_ac_dot_uk]
Sent: 24
January 2009 10:38
Subject: RE:
Would you be in favour of a "Music Box" at gigs in pubs ?
Hi Andy,
OK, this continues a discussion I was having in the
Evenhill last night, with a couple of friends
- their thesis is that our major problem
is caused by the split that was inserted between the pub owning chains and the
beer brewing companies.
Now the pub owning chains have no incentive to sell
beer - their best way to make money is to, as you say, put the rent and price of
the drink supplies up so high that the pubs can not be profftable, and close, so
that they san sell them off as resedential properties.
So is there anything we can do about this, any line of
attack ? Anybody, any ideas ?
cheers,
Beau
Hi Beau,
well, it's a thought
- but I can't see the majority of pubs surviving this present crisis whatever
they do unless there are major changes ... the fundamental problem with running
a pub is the level of rent payment expected by the owners. this is based on a
seriously inflated idea of commercial property values and the supine attitude of
many councils to demands to allow change of use to residential for "non-viable"
pub premises. if an owner can make a huge profit on the premises by selling up
for conversion, what incentive is there for rent demands to be moderated to
reflect the true profitability of the business?
I suspect that the boom
in property prices (and the closure & sell-off of pubs) is the factor that
isn't on your graph .... and even a collapse in the values as residential units
doesn't help much since these values will still be way above the true value as
business premises ...
kind regards, andybanjo