FOI ref: FOI-2024-2063

You asked

Under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and in reference to a previous FOI request (FOI/2022/4262 - Pub closures and their locations between 2017 to 2022 - Office for National Statistics), I would like to know:

  • The number of pub closures and their location
  • The number of restaurant closures and their location
  • The number of nightclub closures and their location

Please provide this data for 2023 and the first six months of 2024 (1 January 2024 to 30 June 2024).

Please do not hesitate to contact me if you require clarification on my request.

We said

Thank you for your Freedom of Information request enquiring about pub, restaurant and nightclub closures and their locations for 2023 and the first 6 months of 2024.  

We do not hold information showing the number of individual site closures for pubs, restaurants, and nightclubs that are part of a chain.

However, the following publication may be of interest to you.

The following publication, Annual Business demography, provides information at enterprise level (the whole business level). As mentioned, individual sites for pubs, restaurants and nightclubs that are part of a chain are not shown in these figures. The latest data available is for 2022. This will be updated on 18 November 2024 to include 2023 data.

These data are presented either by activity or location. If you wish to obtain a dataset showing both activity and location, this can be requested as bespoke analysis from our IDBR team at idbrdas@ons.gov.uk. Such services are subject to disclosure controls, legal frameworks, resources, and an agreement of costs in line with our charging policy.

We have another publication that may be of interest, UK Business: Activity, size and location. The latest 2023 data are available on NOMIS. The 2024 data will be available at the end of September. The data are shown at both enterprise and individual site level. The difference in the publications is that these data are a snapshot, taken annually in March, of the number of businesses registered for VAT and/or PAYE rather than a record of the number of business births and deaths. Using NOMIS these data can be broken down by Standard Industrial Classification (SIC). However, please note that this will not show business closures specifically.

If you require any help using NOMIS or need further clarification, please contact idbrdas@ons.gov.uk.