Punters are “not going to hide at home” and avoid pubs despite the cost-of-living crisis, the owner of three Aberdeen bars has insisted.
Colin Cameron, owner of Kirkgate Bar on Upperkirkgate, Masada on Rosemount Viaduct, and The Bridge Bar on Bridge Street, was bullish about the pubs’ prospects.
The attitude of most people is that it’s something we will live through and it’ll sort itself out.”
Colin Cameron, the owner of several Aberdeen pubs.
But his upbeat tone came as bosses of six of the UK’s biggest pub and brewing companies signed an open letter to the UK Government urging it to act in order to avoid “real and serious irreversible” damage to the sector.
Mr Cameron said: “There’s no doubt there’s a drop in trade generally within hospitality.
“Pubs are suffering just as much as restaurants and some of that could well be put down to the cost of living.
“But a lot of it is still due to the effects of Covid, and some people aren’t keen to get out and about.
“Over the last few weeks things have picked up quite a bit. Our customers are reasonably upbeat.”
The pub owner said higher prices in pubs as the on-trade grapples with fast-rising costs were “probably going to be more important to a lot of people who are coming in than the overall cost of living”.
He added: “The attitude of most people is that it’s something we will live through and it’ll sort itself out. We are not going to hide at home.
“June and July are fairly quiet months but whenever you come to August people are back as there’s football and darts. August, September and October are probably the best three months we have apart from December.”
Rocketing energy bills
On higher energy costs, Mr Cameron said: “It’s a major effect and we are not going to get any assistance.
“But we’ve survived the two years of Covid and are still working away with the three pubs.
“We’ve got to accept there will be substantial increases in gas and electric costs.
“I shudder to think what the next will look like. We’ve already had a 100% increase in energy costs, compared with this time last year.”
His comments came as major pub groups warned of the potential of mass closures amid soaring energy bills.
Greene King, JW Lees, Carlsberg Marston’s, Admiral Taverns, Drake & Morgan and St Austell Brewery all sounded the alarm.
Last Friday regulator Ofgem confirmed bills for an average UK household will surge by 80% in October, when a new price cap comes into force.
Businesses operate without a regulated price cap, with some pub owners saying their bills have quadrupled.
Some are even struggling to find suppliers willing to power their venues when contracts come up for renewal.
Some pub bills up more than 300%
JW Lees managing director William Lees Jones said: “We have publicans who are experiencing 300%-plus increases in energy costs and some energy companies are refusing to even quote for supply.
“In some instances, tenants are giving us notice since their businesses do not stack up with energy at these costs.
“These are not just pubs but people’s homes and the hearts of the communities that they sit in.
“Government needs to extend the energy cap to business as well as households.”
Greene King owns 14 pubs in and around Aberdeen, including Ma Cameron’s, Molly Malone’s, the Prince of Wales, Wild Boar, Old Schoolhouse and Old Blackfriars in the city centre.
It also has the Granary in Elgin and Platform 8 in Inverness in its 2,700-strong UK-wide portfolio.
Greene King chief executive Nick Mackenzie said one tenant had seen their energy bill jump £33,000 this year.
He added: “While the government has introduced measures to help households cope with this spike in prices, businesses are having to face this alone and it is only going to get worse come the autumn.
“Without immediate government intervention to support the sector we could face the prospect of pubs being unable to pay their bills, jobs being lost and beloved locals across the country forced to close their doors, meaning all the good work done to keep pubs open during the pandemic could be wasted.”
The bosses, who all sit on the board of the British Beer and Pub Association, have demanded the government implement an urgent support package that effectively caps the price of energy for businesses.
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