FOI reference: FOI-2024-1734
You asked
Under the Freedom of Information Act, I would like to request the following information:
I would like to know how many pubs closed in the UK in the second half of 2023 (July 1 to December 31).
I would like you to provide this information in the following format:
A list of all the pub names and their locations, as well as the total number as a separate data point.
We said
Thank you for your Freedom of Information request asking for the number of pubs closures from July to December 2023.
These figures are not released by ONS. A possible ONS source for them for the future is the Business demography, quarterly, UK release. This publication is regarded as official statistics in development and a detailed industrial breakdown is not currently published from it.
We produce an annual publication called Business Demography. The publication shows the annual data on births, deaths and survival of businesses in the UK, by geographical area and Standard Industrial Classification 2007: SIC 2007 groups. We publish figures for Beverage Service Activities (SIC 563). A more detailed industrial breakdown may be obtained via our bespoke services. Such services are subject to resources, legal frameworks, disclosure controls, and an agreement of costs in line with the ONS Charging Policy. Please contact our IDBR data service team via idbrdas@ons.gov.uk for more information.
Please note, we would be unable to release the names of businesses and their locations. Section 39 of the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007 (SRSA) renders it a criminal offence to disclose information held by the Statistics Board for statistical purposes that would identify an individual or a body corporate. As we are prohibited by law from publishing statistics in which individuals can be identified, Section 44(1) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA) applies.