UK pub sector sobers up
Enterprise Inns, one of the U.K.'s largest pub companies, has today announced a 21% drop in annual profits and a warning for the year ahead. The UK pub sector has been under pressure for some time as the economic trouble continues to hit consumers in the pocket and sees them move away from "luxury" spending. The company has jettisoned 368 "underperforming pubs" over the last year raising £113 million in the process and improving the quality of its pub estate.
However, it looks as though more pub disposals will be announced in due course with the group citing pressure from supermarkets as another reason for the pain in the UK pub sector. The company still made £208 million in the full year and while this was down from £263 million last year it is still a credible performance in what is an ever more difficult trading environment. So what next?
It seems that the UK pub sector will diminish significantly over the weeks and months ahead with pubs closing every week up and down the country due to ever increasing costs and lower consumer spending. Once seen as one of the more stable areas of the UK economy, the pub sector has undergone a major change over the last two years and there would appear to be more pain in the offing.
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