What are your thoughts on the future of pubs/restaurants etc?

[SexyGreyFox]

I've never mentioned this before on here but my main hobby for the last 52 years has been gigging with different bands in different venues
It's now come to the point that I think in a years time because of the cost of living and heating crisis I may have nowhere to play even if I offered my services for nothing.
Talking to 2 Landlords recently who said their electric/gas is £1000 a week and it could go up to £4000 which they won't be able to afford to stay open.
Me and the wife usually have a meal out, a takeaway and go watch a band once a week but come next year all that could stop because of the crisis, other usual punters will be in the same state so therefore most venues will be empty and have to close.

In my opinion it's looking bad for the leisure industry, I hope I'm wrong, I usually am.

 

[Ice Tea]

Meta

 

[SexyGreyFox]

Meta

Meta (from the Greek μετά, meta, meaning "after" or "beyond") is a prefix meaning "more comprehensive" or "transcending."

 

[Brutal biff]

I've never mentioned this before on here but my main hobby for the last 52 years has been gigging with different bands in different venues
It's now come to the point that I think in a years time because of the cost of living and heating crisis I may have nowhere to play even if I offered my services for nothing.
Talking to 2 Landlords recently who said their electric/gas is £1000 a week and it could go up to £4000 which they won't be able to afford to stay open.
Me and the wife usually have a meal out, a takeaway and go watch a band once a week but come next year all that could stop because of the crisis, other usual punters will be in the same state so therefore most venues will be empty and have to close.

In my opinion it's looking bad for the leisure industry, I hope I'm wrong, I usually am.

The future is grim I'm from stoke aswell come January all if not most will close the doors for good

Look at Hanley how it is now compared to say 20 years ago where there was loads of night clubs/ pubs I reckon all shopping towns will be just like hanley

 

[413x]

We were hearing last year about pubs closing rapidly.

Now you have triple hit of

-punters have less money, its a big saving not to go
-electricity is 4-5x as expensive as it was 1 year ago
-if renting that cost has gone up too.


I expect more to close in the next 6 months than ever before.
It will likely be only the very high margin places that survive

 

[Diddums]

We need to just build a few reactors and be done with this nonsense.

 

[throwaway4372]

It hasn't been worth eating at chain pub/food places for ages. Why pay £20 to have to travel somewhere and ignore someone's kids, when you can just make something premium yourself for under £10 with no hassle? Same applies to takeaways, makes no sense. Should not exist.

 

[SDK^]

Unless the Government pull an amazing hundred billion pound+ support package out of their hat, I imagine the next 12 months, starting from October, are going to the toughest financial times since the 1st/2nd World Wars.

 

[Ice Tea]

Meta (from the Greek μετά, meta, meaning "after" or "beyond") is a prefix meaning "more comprehensive" or "transcending."

It was just a silly dig at Facebook wanting to create a online 3d MetaVerse that creates a Virtual Reality world where you can go to any event like the Cinema or a Concert online.

 

[Freefaller]

I personally love going to restaurants and countryside pubs to eat (I don't really drink alcohol). It's one of the pleasures of living in the countryside and going into London. Gastronomy, fresh produce and seasonal flavours.

I'd be really sad if this comes to an end. Of course I don't go out as often as I used to, less than once a week now, but not having that option would be really sad.

I don't think it will end. I think there's enough business to keep a lot afloat but I can see there being a lot less smaller independent places and more chain owned places as a result which again is a shame.

 

[VincentHanna]

The service/leisure industry is always hit first.

It's just not a sustainable business model when their utilities have gone up 300%

It's already happened:

Aberdeen Chinese takeaway hit with £10k gas bill

The Royal Crown has been hit with a gas bill charging 10 times more than the amount they usually owe.

www.bbc.co.uk

A Chinese takeaway in Aberdeen has been hit with a £10,000 gas bill - 10 times more than what they would usually owe.

Owner Martin Tang's quarterly gas bill for Royal Crown usually amounts to about £1,000.

His electricity bill is normally a similar price, but this quarter it totalled more than £4,000.

Energy supplier SSE has contacted Mr Tang to try and work towards a solution, as he fears the business could close as a result.

Mr Tang said the price hike could leave staff jobless and claims the business is losing money whenever they cook.

The takeaway has been serving Aberdeen locals since the 1980s.

 

[Uther]

First covid now this, I think they're done. At least after the lockdown there was a bit of pent up demand, and people had money to spend. The 2020's are turning out to be beyond ****.

 

[Freefaller]

If it does happen I will definitely consider moving somewhere where restaurants are a core societal activity and still vibrant.

 

[GGizmo]

One of the big pub/restaurants around here as closed down because of the covid lockdowns and not being able to pick up business after.

I know the pub industry as been struggling for years.

They hardly make any money.

A lot of pubs hire landlords/ladies, and then set targets they have to meet. But many places fail to make it, so there is a stream of new landlords/ladies that come and go.

 

[SexyGreyFox]

The future is grim I'm from stoke aswell come January all if not most will close the doors for good

Look at Hanley how it is now compared to say 20 years ago where there was loads of night clubs/ pubs I reckon all shopping towns will be just like hanley

I run a large Facebook group and keep a list of gigs for everybody and I can honestly see most of these venues closing in the Stoke area -
https://bit.ly/3DEFah8

 

[McPhee]

It's going to be tough, but not impossible. A lot of new thinking needed about how we trade efficiently and how we use energy. For us, it's going to mean reduced opening hours across our venues, the end of the night-time drinks trade, and changing how we cost menus so that energy use is accounted for in the product cost. In turn, this will likely mean our menus change dramatically, and some kitchen equipment is turned off on trading days (only used for batch cooking on non-trading days).

There are a lot smaller changes happening too. Too many to list. But right now energy efficiency is a huge focus.

 

[Uther]

If it does happen I will definitely consider moving somewhere where restaurants are a core societal activity and still vibrant.

That won't be in this country then.

 

[200sols]

That won't be in this country then.

It won't be anywhere in Europe if this continues.

 

[Surveyor]

It's going to be tough, but not impossible. A lot of new thinking needed about how we trade efficiently and how we use energy. For us, it's going to mean reduced opening hours across our venues, the end of the night-time drinks trade, and changing how we cost menus so that energy use is accounted for in the product cost. In turn, this will likely mean our menus change dramatically, and some kitchen equipment is turned off on trading days (only used for batch cooking on non-trading days).

There are a lot smaller changes happening too. Too many to list. But right now energy efficiency is a huge focus.

Now it will be much higher but you should always have been accounting for energy costs in your product cost/pricing.

 

[Freefaller]

That won't be in this country then.

Unfortunately not if this continues.

It won't be anywhere in Europe if this continues.

Not quite correct. But a lot of northern European areas will undoubtedly struggle.