Monday 29 November 2010

How much did an Edwardian pub turn over?

Following on from yesterday's post about the ridiculous prices paid for pubs around 1900, here are the sales figures for some of Barclay Perkins London boozers.


Barclay Perkins sales by pub 1901 - 1910 (in pounds)
pub
1901
1902
1903
1904
1905
1906
1907
1908
1909
1910
Angel
1010
1343
1334
1082
1089
955
1009
1098
926
953
Albert House
1195
1109
1052
966
835
747
827
838
654
393
Anchor
1860
2617
2925
2606
2616
2388
2909
3071
2913
2803
Anchor & Hope
1690
1559
1431
1341
1172
1090
963
751
601
606
Source:
document ACC/2305/1/517 of the Courage Archive helsd at the London Metropolitan Archives

I assume the figures are what the tenant paid to the brewery for beer as for later years there's a barrelage figures, too. At between a thousand and two thousand pounds a year in beer sales, it would have taken decades for a brewery to recoup an investment of  20 or 30 thousand quid. Doesn't seem to make economic sense to me.

2 comments:

Rob Sterowski said...

But businesses thought in the long term back then. In 1901 it would have seemed reasonable to assume that Barclay Perkins would be around forever.

Graham Wheeler said...

Rather off-topic, but relevant to B.P.

"The well-known station [Waterloo] was not intended to be a terminus, for the line was going farther east along the present route of the South Eastern & Chatham [railway], and much of the property had been secured, such insignificant items as Barclay & Perkins Brewery and Southwark Bridge being about to be taken over by the company, when the financial crisis made them pull up where they have remained."
From: Our Home Railways, W. J. Gordon, 1910, discussing the history of The London & South Western Railway.

It would be amusing to see the minute books of that period. Would that have spelt the end of the brewery or were there contingency plans? It was probably a property Compulsory Purchase Order rather than a take-over as we know it today, but perhaps the railway were going to buy Barclay and Perkins out, fully.