Thu 19th Mar 2015 - Trade body – 72% of Scottish pubs say drink sales down by 10% plus Trade body – 72% of Scottish pubs say drink sales down by 10% plus: A survey of 400 Scottish licensees has found 29% reporting an overall decline in like-for-like sales of more than 10% since the drink drive limit was lowered. A total of 64% of all outlets surveyed showing a decline of up to 10% in like-for-like sales. A total of 52% of all outlets say they expect to see the decline continue throughout 2015, and only 13% of licensee report that they expect to see any growth. The biggest loss to outlets has been in alcohol sales – 72% reporting a downturn of 10% or more. The survey, by the Scottish Licensed Trade Association (SLTA), found 56% of outlets stating the biggest single threat to their business is Scottish government legislation. This figure was nearly four times higher than any other threats such as off trade pricing or local competition. Paul Waterson, chief executive, of the SLTA, said: “These results, which mirror other earlier trade surveys, are very worrying. The fight is on to save our trade. Our members are saying that customers are now afraid to stop and have one drink at their local on the way home from work, and many who take the family out for a mid-week bite or Sunday lunch, aren’t coming in at all. People worried about driving with small residual amounts of alcohol in their bloodstream after a night out is having the most significant effect on stopping people coming into our premises of an evening. Our pubs and bars are the heart and soul of the communities they serve. If a town or village pub closes, it loses its focal point, local activities suffer, people lose contact and the sociability of an area is lost. While the SLTA welcomes Chancellor’s announcement to cut beer duty, it simply is not enough – the licensed trade needs continued support. Drink drive legislation aside, Scotland continues to lag behind England and Wales on the issue of tied pubs. Forcing tenants in Scotland to purchase beer at elevated prices from pub company landlords is a serious concern which must be addressed as it directly correlates to higher levels of pub closures. People can be very dismissive of the impact of individual pub closures, but this isn’t about one or two outlets employing five or six people. Last year, before the change to the drink driving regulations, we had five or six closures every week, with 30 or 40 job losses, over a year this runs into thousands. That closure rate looks like it will rise this year. The tied pubs issue also has a profound effect on pub closures with tenanted pubs being 62 times more likely to close than those in the free trade. We are now asking government officials in Holyrood and Westminster to meet with us, and come up with practical solutions to alleviate the impact on our sector and the high number of potential job losses.”