Craft Brewer BrewDog has confirmed that its Bristol venues would not be affected by plans to close pubs due to soaring energy costs. The firm's boss announced last week that it would be closing six of its pubs mainly in the Scotland and London areas as he said it would “be simply impossible to get these bars even close to financial viability” in the foreseeable future.
BrewDog will shut the Hop and Anchor in Aberdeen, Smithfield Market Arms in London, Hop Hub in Motherwell and its BrewDog bars in Dalston, east London; Old Street, east London; and Peterhead. In a LinkedIn post, the boss said the closures come as the hospitality sector faces “sheer ‘rabbit in the headlights’ paralysis of this zombie government” as rocketing costs threaten the future of many pubs, restaurants and bars.
In a LinkedIn post, the boss James Watt said the closures come as the hospitality sector faces “sheer ‘rabbit in the headlights’ paralysis of this zombie government” as rocketing costs threaten the future of many pubs, restaurants and bars.
READ MORE: Single woman 'lives in fear' as cost of living alone rises
He wrote: "Industry experts estimate that up to a staggering 70% of the UK’s bars, pubs and restaurants could be forced to close due to soaring energy prices and huge cost price increases and unfortunately, we are not exempt from these headwinds.
"Last night we confirmed we were to close 6 bars around the UK and it is heart-breaking to lose these locations. I warned a few weeks ago, costs are rising to such a degree, with no prospect of any help from a clueless government, that these very difficult decisions have to be made.
"It was going to be simply impossible to get these bars even close to financial viability in the foreseeable future. We had no choice but to close them. I am so, so happy that due to the strength in other parts of our bar estate, every single person has been offered a role in a separate bar nearby, so there will be no job losses. But I pray this is not a sign of things to come."
BrewDog has two venues in Bristol, one on Baldwin Street next to Bristol Bridge, with a second venue opening at the harbourside in July. But despite this being a new venue in Bristol, BrewDog has confirmed that neither Bristol bar is currently under threat of closure.
A BrewDog spokesman told Bristol Live: “All staff have accepted roles in other BrewDog locations. There will be no job losses.
“This is part of the regular review of our portfolio. With rapidly increasing costs including spiralling energy bills the bars were a substantial distance from being viable to operate.”
James Watt posted about the craft brewer’s next steps in another post on Linked In, writing that they “have a lot more plans in the pipeline”, as well as sharing his hope for the Waterloo branch being “the UK’s biggest bar at Waterloo with more than 20,000 visitors so far.”
While adding that the decision to close six venues was “tough”, Watt also urged the government to offer “state-backed loans” and “VAT holiday for hospitality for a year”, as well slash business rates by half for a year, add an energy price cap for businesses and “reverse the rise in employers’ national insurance contributions introduced in April”.
Read next
