A number of factors have contributed to the number of pub insurance holders who have been forced to close their doors, an expert has said.
Recent figures from the British Beer & Pub Association (BBPA) claimed that up to 52 pub insurance customers are ceasing trading each week, leading to 24,000 job losses in the past year.
James Wilmore, deputy news editor at The Publican, suggested that a "perfect storm" of issues have driven this problem.
"These include the huge increase in alcohol tax in the last year, aggressive supermarket pricing, […] the recession, rising utility costs, poor weather and government red tape," he explained.
In addition, Mr Wilmore said that some industry members blame the smoking ban as the cause of falling trade and the nature of the relationship between pub companies and their tenants.
The BBPA figures showed that 2,377 pub insurance holders have left the market in the past year, bringing the three-year total to 5,134 closures.
