Beer sales in pubs down 39 per cent

6 May 2011

NEW HMRC FIGURES SHOW 4.6% FALL IN "ON TRADE" BEER SALES - WITH BEER SALES IN THE "ON TRADE" DOWN 39% FROM PEAK LEVELS AS PUBS AREPRICED OUT OF THE MARKET AND CLOSE

Restructuring at Pubco Punch show that the directors and shareholders are heading for the lifeboat leaving to bondholders and tied tenants to sink in a sea of debts says GMB the union for ties pub tenants.

Total alcohol volumes released for UK consumption in the year to February 2011 are 1% down on the levels for the year to February 2010 and down 0.1% on the figure for the year to January 2011.

Official HMRC figures released today show that the volume of wine released for UK consumption in the year to February 2011 was down by 0.1% on the volume for the year to January 2011 and down 0.6% on the volume for the year to February 2010.

In the year to February 2011 the volume of cider released for UK consumption was down by 0.7% on the volume for the year to January 2011 and down by 0.9% for the year to February 2010.

In the year to February 2011 the volume of spirits released for UK consumption was up by 0.1% on the volume for the year to January 2011 and up 1.7% on the volume for the year to February 2010.

In the year to February 2011 the volume of beer released for UK consumption was the same as the volume for the year to January 2011 and was 1.8% down on the volume for the year to February 2010.

In the year to February 2011 the volume of beer released for UK consumption in the "on trade" was the same as the volume for the year to January 2011 and was 4.6% down on the figure for the year to February 2010. Sales of beer in the "on trade" are down 38.8% on the levels in 2002.

In the year to February 2011 the volume of beer released for UK consumption in the "off trade" was the same as the volume for the year to January 2011 and was 1.6% up on the volume for the year to February 2010.

These figures are from a GMB analysis of the latest official figures for alcohol released for UK consumption up to February 2011, the latest figure available which were released today by HMRC and set out in the table below.

The analysis by GMB, the union for tied pub tenants, shows an unsteady and uneven recovery underway in the seasonally adjusted monthly volumes of some type of alcoholic drinks released for consumption in the UK while volumes are still well below pre-recession levels for all types of alcoholic drinks except cider.

The indices for the seasonally adjusted monthly volumes of wine, beer, cider and spirits released for UK consumption from August 2007 to February 2011 are set out in the Table below with the figures indexed from the volumes in June 2002.

In value terms alcohol consumption is still well down on the peak level of £43.4 billion sold in the UK in 2007. Beer had a market share of 41.6% of all sales in 2009 and volumes are still declining. Spirits had a market share of 20.2 % of sales in 2009. Volumes of wines and ciders, with a market share of 38.2% of sales in 2009, are growing. In 2009 total alcohol sales in the UK had fallen in value by 4.6% to £41.4 billion

Alcohol: GMB analysis of seasonally adjusted monthly quantities released for UK consumption - Source HM Revenue and Customs

			Beer
		Fresh grape wine	Total	on-trade	off-trade	Cider	Spirits
		index Jun 2002=100	index Jun 2002=100	index Jun 2002=100	index Jun 2002=100	index Jun 2002=100	index Jun 2002=100
2007	Aug	125.5	90.9	79.9	112.8	133.0	134.4
	Sep	125.9	90.5	79.5	112.2	135.8	133.9
	Oct	126.7	90.7	78.8	114.3	134.6	130.7
	Nov	127.6	91.5	79.5	115.2	135.4	133.1
	Dec	127.2	89.9	78.1	113.2	136.1	132.0
2008	Jan	125.6	89.9	76.7	115.9	136.6	128.3
	Feb	126.8	90.4	77.2	116.7	136.9	128.1
	Mar	129.2	89.0	75.9	114.8	139.1	131.9
	Apr	127.4	88.9	74.6	117.3	137.9	128.0
	May	128.5	88.7	74.4	117.0	142.4	130.0
	Jun	127.0	88.6	74.4	116.9	139.4	128.6
	Jul	127.5	88.8	74.3	117.5	142.6	128.6
	Aug	125.5	87.0	72.8	115.2	145.8	125.3
	Sep	123.8	87.5	73.2	115.8	139.5	124.5
	Oct	124.4	86.8	72.4	115.5	142.4	128.1
	Nov	125.3	88.1	73.4	117.1	144.9	132.2
	Dec	125.2	86.6	72.1	115.1	142.3	124.0
2009	Jan	124.8	85.6	71.5	113.5	143.0	124.3
	Feb	122.7	84.4	70.5	111.8	142.9	122.7
	Mar	117.7	83.6	69.8	110.8	140.1	117.5
	Apr	121.3	84.7	70.9	112.1	144.7	124.7
	May	119.1	83.1	69.5	109.9	140.4	119.2
	Jun	119.4	82.4	68.9	109.1	145.3	119.1
	Jul	118.9	82.5	68.3	110.6	149.6	119.0
	Aug	118.4	82.2	68.1	110.2	150.5	118.7
	Sep	119.2	81.3	67.3	108.9	153.9	118.1
	Oct	119.2	80.2	66.2	107.8	155.5	116.3
	Nov	117.6	77.7	64.2	104.6	152.9	108.6
	Dec	117.8	78.7	65.0	105.9	159.1	113.2
2010	Jan	119.4	78.6	64.3	107.0	159.8	114.9
	Feb	119.8	78.4	64.1	106.8	160.4	115.6
	Mar	122.1	78.8	64.4	107.3	164.6	120.5
	Apr	120.2	77.5	61.8	108.6	164.5	117.5
	May	120.6	80.1	63.8	112.2	166.2	118.0
	Jun	121.2	79.7	63.6	111.7	173.5	118.7
	Jul	122.2	78.3	62.7	109.2	168.6	118.7
	Aug	121.1	78.1	62.5	108.8	167.1	116.9
	Sep	121.6	77.7	62.2	108.3	165.5	116.4
	Oct	120.9	77.4	61.5	109.0	164.3	117.0
	Nov	120.1	77.3	61.4	108.8	161.9	117.2
	Dec	119.8	77.1	61.2	108.5	159.0	119.9
2011	Jan	119.0	77.0	61.2	108.4	160.0	117.4
	Feb	119.1	77.0	61.2	108.4	159.0	117.6

Paul Maloney GMB National Officer for tied tenants said" Beer sales in the "on trade" have fallen off a cliff – down 38.9% from peak levels - as pubs are priced out of the market and close as a result of rents being too high. As a result of th eincrease in VAT to 20% the differential in the price of beer in supermarkets and pubs is wider than ever. More pubs will close.

The private equity inspired property companies pubcos that own large chunks of the pub estate are charging these sky high rents as they struggle to pay interest to offshore bondholders. They are doing absolutely nothing to end this loss of market share. The restructuring at Punch show that the directors and shareholders are heading for the lifeboat leaving to bondholders and tied tenants to sink in a sea of debts.

The regulatory authorities have done nothing to save tied tenants from this market abuse by these property companies that own pubs. The Government has done nothing either. Pub tenants are bitter at this inaction.

Government talk about binge drinking completely misses the point that supermarkets are the source of much of the drink as beer sales in pubs are 38.8 % down on the peak year of 2002."

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