Pubs, clubs and licensed premises closing every fortnight in North Somerset
New council figures reveal footfall is at an all-time low
Last updated 22nd Oct 2025
North Somerset is losing a licensed premises every fortnight as pubs face a “battle” to stay open.
North Somerset Council’s mid-year licensing report warned that the district was seeing a licensed premises close “around every two weeks,” alongside a higher than usual proportion struggling to pay their annual fee on time. Although the figure covers all licensed premises, pubs and clubs are understood to be the most affected while off licences and supermarkets thrive.
Chair of the council’s licensing committee, John Crockford-Hawley (Weston-super-Mare Hillside, Liberal Democrat) told the Local Democracy Reporting Service that it was part of a wider trend. He said: “Going out for a beer is now rather a more expensive occupation. … I think currently people are staying at home, having a drink at home, and then going out for one more.”
One pub still bustling is the Tavern Inn the Town, which owner Jonathan Dudd described as “a community pub rather than a nightclub or venue.” Mr Dudd has been running pubs in Weston-super-Mare for 40 years and has also been trying to get the Cavendish reopened.
He said: “It’s a battle really to stay in this trade. However thank goodness the Great British public still like to come out for a pint.”
On top of rising utilities costs, Mr Dudd said drinking habits had changed but so had Weston as a seaside town. He said: “We haven’t got the footfall we used to and I can’t blame the council for that. … People go abroad now. They don’t go to a sleepy old seaside town.”
But he said the council could better support hospitality by making it easier for establishments to put out pavement furniture without having to pay. He added the business rates relief for hospitality had been “massive.”
The mid-year licensing report, which went before the council’s licensing committee on October 21, warned: “Cheaper supermarket offers are still more appealing to those on tight budgets with a steady rise in home drinking noted.”
It added that on a national level quarter of towns and cities which had a nightclub five years ago no longer had any. It said: “North Somerset area has still maintained most of its late-night venues, but footfall is at an all-time low.”