Thousands of UK pubs ‘face closure’ without energy bills support

Government told mass job losses are inevitable in absence of help, with sector still battling back from Covid

Thousands of pubs face closure without urgent government support to soften the blow from soaring energy bills, the beer industry has said, putting jobs at risk in a sector still battling to recover from the Covid pandemic.

The bosses of companies owning almost half of the UK's 47,000 pubs said tenants were already giving notice because they could not cope with energy bills, which are due to rise more than fivefold in some cases.