For generations, pubs have served as a place where soccer fans crowd around television screens, colleagues meet after work, families celebrate birthdays, bachelor and bachelorette parties mark a final hurrah before marriage and regulars find community.
But young Britons are increasingly looking elsewhere for social connection and embracing sober alternatives to mingle. This cultural shift may add to the squeeze being felt by Britain’s pubs.
A study published in May by the British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA), an industry body that represents thousands of pubs and breweries, said that between January and March of this year, 161 pubs closed across England, Wales and Scotland – an average of nearly two a day. Since 2000, more than a quarter of pubs have closed, going from 60,800 in 2000 to 44,650 to 2025.
Rising costs and taxes are among the reasons why pubs are feeling financial pressure, said Emma McClarkin, chief executive of the BBPA.
But experts say cultural shifts also have a part to play, as the social scene for Gen Z – those born between 1997 and 2012 – diversifies and a Friday night is as likely to mean hanging out at the running track as propping up a bar.
