Young landlords are revitalising Britain’s ailing pub industry
Over the last three years young pub landlords breathed new life into Britain's ailing pub industry, helping it bounce back from a painful period of decline.
Youthful landlords have tapped into the nation's penchant for pub food, helping the sector's sales rise by 23 per cent in the three years to March 2015, according to data published by Barclays.
And during this period nearly half of the sector's current establishments were opened, compared with 26 per cent that had been running for 10 years or more.
This was helped by an army of young people, with the number of British pub landlords aged between 25 and 34 rising by a quarter.
Adam Rowse, head of business banking at Barclays, said.
It's been long reported that this is an industry full of challenges for pub owners, however our research shows that this has not deterred the next generation of 'pub innovators' from setting up shop.
Beyond the headlines of pub closures, turnover growth and rise of new businesses is encouraging.
There are also a large number of establishments that have managed to sustain and grow their businesses in the last decade, including those that have renewed their business plans in response to changing customer appetites – the rise in those catering with pub food for example has enabled diversification.
Britain's pub industry has suffered amid a slew of regulation such as smoking ban, the alcohol duty escalator as well as the effects of the recession on consumer spending power.
These are some of the factors which helped cause Britain to lose around 21,000 pubs since 1980, with half of the closures taking place since 2006 according to a report by the Adam Smith Institute.
(Source: Adam Smith Institute)