24 hour drinking is a myth, café society isn't

The hospitality industry has failed in the debate over 24-hour licensing. The truth is that 24-hour drinking in Britain's pubs and clubs is a myth, but the market has been unable to get that fact over to either the public or the media.

Turn on any TV or radio station this last week, and you would hear supposedly intelligent journalists asking about the damage 24-hour drinking is doing to the nation.

But where is this round-the-clock boozing going on? The Government's own statistics published this month reveals the real situation. There are a mere 470 pubs, clubs and bars across the country, a tiny fraction of the total, that have licences that allow them to open for 24-hours. Most of those seem to be concentrated in South West England. None are in central London, the heart of the nation.

The problem is that the media has taken the anti-alcohol lobby's agenda as its own and '24-hour opening' has become ingrained as the shorthand for licensing reform. The anti-drink campaigners have been winning the PR battle hands down.

It is no good just shouting at Radio Four news presenters. It's time to start getting the message out loud and clear to a much wider audience.

Yet another myth is about whether Britain does or doesn't have a growing café culture. The health lobby would have us believe that nothing has changed, that we Brits simply go out to get drunk. Not true.

You can argue over semantics about what 'cafe culture' means, but what is indisputable is that when the British go out, increasingly it is to eat rather than drink. The British have become a nation of diners-out. It has been the fundamental leisure shift of the past decade.

It is seen in official Government figures. It is seen on every high street and retail park. Eating-out of home has been growing, while drinking-out has been steadily declining. The boom in branded restaurant chains and coffee shops - the likes of Pizza Express, Frankie & Benny's, La Tasca, Starbucks and Caffe Nero - across the land surely can't have escaped anyone's notice?

But let's look a little closer at the reality. This month the Department of Culture, Media and Sport published its statistical review of Alcohol, Entertainment and Late Night Refreshment Licensing in England and Wales, from April 2006 to March 2007. The report can be downloaded from the department's website. It is based on responses from 87% of licensing authorities.

It ought to explode the 24-drinking myth for good. Of the 123,700 premises licensed to sell alcohol, 5,100 (just 4%) have a 24-hour licence. But, 3,200 of these are hotels, of which 2,500 have the right to serve only to residents and their private guests - something hotels were able to do before the licensing legislation was changed. A large number of these are in seaside towns like Blackpool and Torquay.

There are 920 supermarkets and convenience stores with 24-hour alcohol licences. Yes, that does allow people in certain parts of the country to nip out to buy a bottle, and that may be a legitimate cause for concern. But drinking at home has never had time constraints.

As for the 470 pubs, bars and clubs with a 24-hour permission, a third are in the South West, many in seasonal holiday resorts like Bournemouth, Poole and Penzance. That's the real context of the 24-hour drinking epidemic we are supposedly experiencing.

Where are the 24 hour bars?
Licensing authorities with the most pubs, bars and clubs with 24-hour licences
1. Lambeth 22
2. Bournemouth 20
3. Poole 17
4. South Somerset 17
5. Birmingham 15
6. Islington 15
7. North Dorset 14
8. Great Yarmouth 13
9. Penwith* 13
10. Bath & NE Somerset 11
Source: DCMS, Nov 2007
*Penzance

It is true that the 2003 Licensing Act has brought extended hours for many pubs and bars, particularly weekends. But as the DCMS reported in October 2006, approximately a fifth of pubs, bars and clubs close by 11pm at the latest, and roughly a half by midnight. Around four in five pubs, bars and nightclubs are closed by 1am at the latest. It added: "Evidence suggests there have been only modest changes to closing times from Sunday to Thursday."

But pub operators are not getting rich selling alcohol. The statistics tell us that out-of-home food sales grew 10.5% in the four years between 2001/2 and 2005/6, while alcohol spend actually fell 2.4% over the same period. We are eating more, but actually drinking less when we go out.

The figures from the Office of National Statistics are there to be seen in the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs' annual Family Food survey for 2005/6, published in May 2007. The average adult spends twice as much on food and non-alcoholic drinks out of home each week than on alcohol - £7.79 against £3.62.

This shift from drinking to eating is also reflected in the changing sales mixes of the leading pub chains. The country's biggest pub group, Mitchells & Butlers, once part of the Bass brewing business, now sells more food than beer. Food accounts for 36% of its sales.

There is now evidence that the ban on smoking in public places is further depressing alcohol sales in bars. JD Wetherspoon, the national managed pub chain, recorded flat like-for-like sales growth in the quarter of the year to October 28, with strong food sales growth off-setting lower bar takings.

You can argue over whether Wetherspoon's is part of the 'cafe culture', but it now sells around 200,000 breakfasts a week and claims 6% of the national coffee market.

And then there are the growing number of branded restaurant chains, which also, by the way, have alcohol licences and are included in the figures. Chain restaurants are the leisure sector's big growth story, and have helped alter national habits.

Research carried out by Harris Interactive for the Peach Factory consultancy in July 2007 revealed that over 70% of all British adults will eat-out at least once every three months. Over half will eat at a restaurant at least once every three months. That percentage rises to 76% in London where casual dining restaurants are now the number one choice when eating out, above pubs and pub restaurants. A third of all food and drink expenditure is on meals out of the home.

Significantly, it is women and younger people driving the eating-out boom. This is no passing fad. If not a cafe society, there is certainly a growing restaurant culture.

No one suggests there is not an alcohol problem in Britain, but it needs to be put in context. The facts of the situation need to be accepted by all sides. Peddling myths is in no-one's interest - certainly not those with real alcohol issues.