As another old Dundee pub, The Whip Inn, calls time, I wonder what future there is for the trade.
My late uncle John Niven ran the Powrie bar in Fintry and owned the Stag bar on the Hilltown.
Back then the city’s pubs were thriving, and regular weekend entertainment was on the menu in many of them, with the Evening Telegraph pages advertising a host of venues with live music.
Now many hostelries barely scrape a living; some opening and closing within months as new tenants swiftly discover that problems outweigh profit.
As a laddie in Kirkton I remember the waft of beer from the Copper Beech and Claverhouse bars.
‘Rapid decline’
Most schemes had a couple of pubs but those two are gone along with the Lea Rig in Douglas, the Jimmy Shand and the Rock Bar in Menzieshill, and the Rowantree in Charleston among them.
The number of bars is in rapid decline as the costs in the trade soar beyond the ability to turn enough profit to cover them.
Gemma Beattie, the owner of The Whip Inn, said: “It is with a huge lump in our throats and aching in our hearts that we must say goodbye to everyone, but we cannot financially survive any longer.
“The running costs are now just beyond ridiculous.
“In the last four years, we have seen electricity prices triple, beer prices double, and water and waste rates double.
“Our outgoings are triple what they were four years ago.
“However, the only thing that seems to be decreasing is our clientele.
“Covid is probably to blame for some of this, as is the cost of living and the fact that the new generation just doesn’t seem to go out as often.”
There are still some fine establishments to enjoy a beer or glass of wine.
But at the rate we’re losing them it’ll soon be last man standing in the pub game.
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