Full list of major chains closing branches as 472 pubs disappear for good – is your local one of them?

ALMOST 500 pubs have closed in the last year in a major blow for punters.

Fresh Government statistics reveal 239 pubs were demolished or converted for other uses in the three months to March 31.

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Hundreds of pubs closed in the last year, new figures reveal[/caption]

It means around 80 pubs shut each month, a 56% increase on the 51 pubs that closed per month over the same three month period in 2023.

It found the overall number of pubs across the two countries fell from 39,401 at the end of 2023 to 39,162 at the end of March.

During the first quarter of the year, the North West of England lost 35 pubs, the most of any region.

Over the past 12 months, 472 pubs across England and Wales have left communities for good, according to data compiled by real estate specialists at Altus Group.

It comes as pub and brewery bosses call for the main political parties to cut beer duty and reform business rates ahead of the General Election on July 4.

The Conservatives, Labour and Liberal Democrats have all pledged to shake up business rates in order to reduce the burden on high street shops, pubs and restaurants.

Firms which pay business rates – the property tax affecting high street firms – saw an inflation-linked rise in April of 6.7%.

However, the Government has extended a 75% discount to business rate bills for the 2024/25 tax year, up to a cap of £110,000.

Alex Probyn, president of property tax at Altus Group, said: “The fundamental issue for business is not necessarily the system but how much tax it actually generates.

“It is a tax that has risen 49% during the last 14 years with business, across all sectors, now paying £9.48 billion a year more than in 2010.

“Whilst the pledges are welcome to drive down bills permanently for the high street, business had hoped for more detail and a timeframe in achieving this.”

Emma McClarkin, chief executive of the British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA), added: “The pub closure figures for the first quarter of this year are a reflection of the continuing high costs of doing business, especially with factors like high energy costs and food and drink inflation remaining higher than the topline inflation rate.”

Below we look at all the major pub chains including Wetherspoons and Marston’s that have closed, or are closing branches.

Wetherspoons

Spoons, which has 809 pubs across the UK, said in September 2022 it was putting dozens of its pubs up for sale.

In May this year, it confirmed 18 pubs had been sold or surrendered to landlords since the start of 2024.

It also said a further 17 drinking spots remained up for sale or under offer.

This means that a buyer has presented an offer that is being considered by the seller.

In total, as many as 49 Wetherspoons pubs have already closed their doors. This is the full list:

• The John Masefield, New Ferry
• Angel, Islington
• The Silkstone Inn, Barnsley
• The Billiard Hall, West Bromwich
• Admiral Sir Lucius Curtis, Southampton
• The Colombia Press, Watford
• The Malthouse, Willenhall
• The John Masefield, New Ferry
• Thomas Leaper, Derby
• Cliftonville, Hove
• Tollgate, Harringay
• Last Post, Loughton
• Harvest Moon, Orpington
• Alexander Bain, Wick
• Chapel an Gansblydhen, Bodmin
• Moon on the Square, Basildon
• Coal Orchard, Taunton
• Running Horse, Airside Doncaster Airport
• Wild Rose, Bootle
• Edmund Halley, Lee Green
• The Willow Grove, Southport
• Postal Order, Worcester
• North and South Wales Bank, Wrexham
• The Sir John Stirling Maxwell, Glasgow
• The Knight’s Templar, London
• Christopher Creeke, Bournemouth
• The Water House, Durham
• The Widow Frost, Mansfield
• The Worlds Inn, Romford
• Hudson Bay, Forest Gate
• The Saltoun Inn, Fraserburgh
• The Bankers Draft, Eltham, London
• The Sir John Arderne, Newark
• The Capitol, Forest Hill
• Moon and Bell, Loughborough
• Nightjar, Ferndown
• General Sir Redvers Buller, Crediton
• The Rising Sun, Redditch
• The Butlers Bell, Stafford
• Millers Well, East Ham
• Foxley Hatch, Purley
• The Coronet, London
• The Percy Shaw, Halifax
• Resolution, Middlesborough
• Asparagus, Battersea
• The Sir Norman Rae, Shipley
• The Market Cross, Holywell
• The White Hart, Todmorden
• Resolution, Middlesbrough

Meanwhile, based on the latest from Wetherspoons, these are the seven pubs that are up for sale:

• The Ivor Davies, Cardiff
• Thomas Drummond, Fleetwood
• Foot of the Walk, Leith
• Poole, The Quay
• London and Rye, London
• The Bears Head, Penarth, Wales

These are the seven Wetherspoons branches currently under offer:

• Wrong ‘Un, Bexleyheath
• Jolly Sailor, Bristol
• Alfred Herring, Palmers Green, London
• The Cross Keys, Pebbles
• The Regent, Kirkby in Ashfield
• The Sir Daniel Arms, Swindon
• The Hain Line, St Ives

Whitbread

Family favourite restaurant chain Whitbread recently revealed plans to slash its chain of branded restaurants across the UK in favour of building more hotel rooms.

The hotel and restaurant company has around 840 sites across the UK and owns brands including Premier Inn, Beefeater and Brewers Fayre.

It plans to convert 112 restaurants into hotel extensions while closing 126 “loss-making” venues, with 21 sales already having gone through.

Whitbread hopes the sales will be completed within the next two years.

The chain has so far confirmed four sites which could close:

• The Manor Farm Beefeater in Rainham, Kent
• The Bridge Barn Beefeater in Woking, Surrey
• The Acorn Beefeater in Burgess Hill, Sussex
• The Grandstand Beefeater in Newton Abbot, Devon

Stonegate

In April, Britain’s biggest pub company, Stonegate, raised fears over its survival as it looked to plug enormous debts.

The chain, which owns over 4,000 UK sites under the Slug & Lettuce, Be at One, Sports Bar & Grill brands, told investors there was a risk it could not refinance a £2.3billion debt pile before a deadline this July.

As a result, Stonegate’s company house accounts said there was “material uncertainty that casts doubt on the company’s ability to continue as a going concern”.

Stonegate is yet to reveal if any of its sites will close, and if so, which ones will shutter.

It comes after the chain launched “dynamic pricing” across a number of its pubs last year.

It saw prices hiked on beverages from 5pm to 7pm on midweek early evenings and weekends.

Marstons

Marston’s Brewery put 61 pubs up for sale last year following a review of its estate.

Boozers in the Midlands, Yorkshire, Sussex and Wales were put on the market.

The sale of the pubs are being managed by commercial real estate agency Christie & Co.

It is not clear whether the venues have yet been sold and closed, but we have approached Marstons to find out more and will update this story when we have heard back.

Below is a full list of the 61 Marston’s Brewery sites put up for sale back in March 2023:

• Admirals Table, Bridgwater
• Albert Vaults, Holyhead
• Bax Castle, Horsham
• Bedford Arms, Derby
• Bellflower, Preston
• Blacksmiths, Wakefield
• Blenheim, Derby
• Blue Pig, Kidderminster
• Bluebell, Telford
• Bradford Arms, Oswestry
• Bridge Inn, Richmond
• Bull & Butcher, Nottingham
• Bush Inn, Dudbey
• Crates & Grapes, Mansfield
• Crooked House, Dudley
• Cross Keys, Colwyn Bay
• Derwent Walk, Consett
• Duke of Wellington, Wrexham
• Evergreen Inn, Tenby
• Firebug, Leicester
• Floaters Mill, Fence Houses
• Fountain Inn, Stourbridge
• Garibaldi Inn, Stourbridge
• Gate Inn, Matlock
• George Hotel, Penrith
• Griffin, Halifax
• Hampden Arms, Wrexham
• Harlequin, Kettering
• Harry Watkins, Llanelli
• Heart of England, Northampton
• Jacksons Wharf, Hartlepool
• Jubilee Inn, Leicester
• King Charles, Ross-on-Wye
• King William, Dudley
• Malt Shovel, Matlock
• Marquess of Exeter, Oakham
• Mitre Oak, Stourport-on-Trent
• Oak Inn, Coventry
• Oxleathers, Stafford
• Pelican, Sailsbury
• Plough Inn, Newark
• Randlay Farmhouse, Telford
• Red Lion, Burton-on-Trent
• Red Lion, Telford
• Ring O’Bells, Mexborough
• Rising Sun, Huddersfield
• Rossmere, Cleveland
• Rutland Arms, Nottingham
• Saddlers Arms, Cardigan
• Spills Meadow, Dudley
• Spital Vaults, Chester
• Strickland Arms, Penrith
• Tafarn Pennionyn, Caernarfon
• Tipsy Terrace, Cleethorpes
• Top Monkey, Mold
• Twthill Vaults, Caernarfon
• Victoria Hotel, Dorchester
• Wellington, Pretson,
• Wheatsheaf, Mansfield
• White Lion, Wigan
• White Swan Inn, York

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