/Large Snip/
Indeed Steven, and there is much in what you write, BUT... The main driving force behind the success or otherwise of a pub is price. There is one chain which has seen phenomenal growth, it's jdw's and it's mainly down to price. One is opening shortly in Skipton, I expect to see other pubs hit hard when it does, and I hope my favourite Skipton pub (The Narrowboat) will survive it. But common sense dictates that if 6/week are closing it can't be because they're all bad licensees, otherwise 6/week would be opening by good licensees to counterbalance it!