Group attacks pubs fund closure

A MANCHESTER-based umbrella group which promotes co-operative businesses has criticised the coalition government’s decision to close a £3.3m fund set up to stem the tide of local pub closures.

Co-Operatives UK said that the fund, which was due to be operated by the Plunkett Foundation but closed before it wrote its first cheque ,would have offered “an effective solution” to the growing tide of rural pub closures
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“Our research suggests that pub closures are accelerating, so that across the UK one pub now closes every three hours,” said Co-operatives UK’s secretary-general Ed Mayo.

“It is tough times for pubs as people cut back on spending out of the home. Community ownership through a co-operative model is sometimes the only way to go.

“The Plunkett Foundation has a wonderful track record of support for co-operative village shops and this decision is contrary to everything the coalition says that it stands for.

“This is not about hand outs – this is about business support. The programme is a tried and tested model, used for the very same village shops that government ministers have praised.”