Unfair to Innkeepers

I’ve another example of the past as a foreign country for you. In relation to pubs and shops.

For the younger amongst you, I’ll point out that off-licences didn’t use to be as numerous as they are now. And that pretty much 100% of pubs sold drinks to be consumed off the premises. So they were to some extent in direct competition with shops, especially for beer sales.

'WOULD BE UNFAIR TO INNKEEPERS'
Minchinhampton Off Licence Refused
OPPOSED by the local innkeepers whose view was that it represented unfair competition, an application made to the Nailsworth Licensing Justices yesterday Mr. Frederick John Jarman, on behalf of World's Stores Ltd., Market-place, Henley-on-Thames, for an off-licence to sell bottled beer at Walker's Stores, Minchinhampton, was refused.

Mr. Conway Clifford (briefed by Messrs. Winterbotham, Ball and Gadsden) represented the applicant and he suggested that as the shop had an off-licence to sell wines and spirits it would be odd If they were not allowed also to sell bottled beer and cider.

Mrs. C. G. Tombs, the manageress of the shop, said there was a demand from customers for beer and cider.

Mr. Clifford, who said there were 15 customers in Court who were prepared to support the application, called three of them, —Mrs. Winifred Howell, High-st., Minchinhampton; Mrs. Ivy Florence Rimes, Avening, and Mrs. Lilian Fletcher, Gatcombe, Minchinhampton who agreed it would be a convenience if the licence were granted.

Opposition
The application was opposed by Mr. J. Lapage Norris, who appeared for the Stroud and District Licensed Victuallers Association and the Minchinhampton innkeepers. The needs of the district, he said, were adequately met by the existing licensed houses and he suggested that it would be unfair for the local innkeepers to be subjected to competition from a big combine.

Mr. Harold Bird, secretary of the Licensed Victuallers Association said there were seven Inns within 100 yards of Walkers Stores; supplies were adequate and the licensees were prepared, if necessary, to deliver.

Mr. H. T. Farmer, licensee of the Salutation Inn said supplies of beer were in excess of demand and innkeepers were to-day finding it difficult to sell as much as the limited war-time allocations.

A letter was read from the Clerk of the Minchinhampton Parish Council intimating that the Council was not in favour of the application and Supt. W. Hart said in the opinion of the police Minchinhampton was well catered for at the present time.

Refusing to grant the application, the Chairman (Mr. G. W. Powell) said the Court considered a case had not been made out.”
Gloucester Citizen - Friday 10 February 1950, page 6.

Seven pubs within 100 yards? There doesn’t seem to be a single pub in Minchinhampton today.

During the war, with brewers limited in the amount of beer they were allowed to brew, they effectively rationed the amount of beer a pub could get. But with a fall in beer sales after the war ended, the shortage of beer disappeared. Meaning pubs were selling quite a bit less beer than they had before 1939. At that level of sales some pubs were undoubtedly struggling to turn a profit.

Here are some numbers to show how many more off-licences there are now than in the 1950’s:

Licences in England and Wales 1945 - 2004
Date	Pub licences	Off Licences	total	% off licences
1945	72,960	21,599	94,559	22.84%
1946	73,026	21,693	94,719	22.90%
1947	73,232	21,848	95,080	22.98%
1948	75,384	22,025	97,409	22.61%
1949	73,422	22,218	95,640	23.23%
1950	73,483	23,532	97,015	24.26%
1951	73,421	23,669	97,090	24.38%
1952	73,368	23,717	97,085	24.43%
1953	73,220	23,810	97,030	24.54%
1954	72,973	23,863	96,836	24.64%
1955	71,244	23,548	94,792	24.84%
1956	70,875	23,531	94,406	24.93%
1957	70,353	23,517	93,870	25.05%
1958	69,913	23,530	93,443	25.18%
1959	69,455	23,571	93,026	25.34%
1960	69,184	23,670	92,854	25.49%
1991	74,299	47,944	122,243	39.22%
1992	74,053	46,063	120,116	38.35%
1994	75,522	47,735	123,257	38.73%
1995	75,392	45,986	121,378	37.89%
1997	78,098	47,753	125,851	37.94%
1998	77,934	45,425	123,359	36.82%
2000	77,876	45,450	123,326	36.85%
2001	78,540	44,696	123,236	36.27%
2003	81,933	47,478	129,411	36.69%
2004	81,455	46,582	128,037	36.38%
Sources:
Brewers' Almanack 1971, page 83.
2011 Statistical Handbook of the BBPA, page 74

At one time off-licences had been almost as difficult to obtain as a pub licence. When it was made easier, the number of off-licences increased significantly, as you can see in the table.

Nowadays, of course, it’s impossible for a pub to compete with supermarkets for off sales. Which is why pub off-licence departments have disappeared.