Bar Talk

Have there been many pub closures in your area recently?

Geoff Holland Holly Bush Inn Salt Staffordshire

Three in the immediate vicinity; two

ex-Enterprise Inns and one freetrade. My nearest pub has been closed for about a year as well. We find trade is relatively buoyant, but we move with the times. It's the pubs that won't change that have problems.

Nigel Davis Marston Inn Marston St Lawrence Oxfordshire

There have been quite a few closures and a few changing hands. Trade is very tough at the moment. I recently had to take a full-time job. But we love the lifestyle; that's why we hang on. We have a skittle alley that's improved trade and we've built a new marquee so we can hold bigger functions.

ian rigg The Taps Lytham Lancashire

A couple of pubs closed near me, which has meant an upturn for my trade. Trade is increasing, not just holding steady. We specialise in real ale and you can't go to the supermarket for that. But Blackpool is absolutely desolate, with lots of pubs shut and up for lease.

Graham Bell Nettleton Lodge Inn Nettleton Lincolnshire

Not recently. There have been a number of changes of tenancy, but no closures. We are currently up on last year, but the weather is not helping and

I think everybody is a bit concerned about the economy. I suspect that by the end of the summer, pub closures will hit the headlines again.