Brewery boss gives sobering warning after it’s revealed 100 pubs have closed in Sheffield

Kane Yeardley, who has been managing director of True North Brew Co for nearly 30 years, claimed one in four pubs in South Yorkshire “will go bust” if the region is placed under Tier 3 restrictions over Christmas, as is expected to be the case.

It comes after a Freedom of Information request revealed no fewer than 100 pubs in Sheffield are lying empty, having served their final pints.

Kane, who was born in Burncross and still lives in Sheffield, said: “Our industry was made a sacrificial cow.

"The restrictions for so many businesses, it’s been death by a thousand cuts. Every time they brought a new one in it knocked 20 per cent off our turnover. We were just haemorrhaging a loss.”

True North Brew Co employs 350 staff across 12 pubs in Sheffield, Barnsley and Dronfield but Kane said there are no plans for closures yet, despite the prospect of a tough winter.

He added: "Over Christmas you do about a third of your business for the year, that keeps people going through January, February and March.

“There’s no money in takeaway, you just do it to keep in contact with your customers."

Kane’s bleak prediction was based on information by Propel, which provides news on the hospitality sector. He said 90 per cent of hospitality businesses cannot make money out of collection and delivery services alone.

According to data supplied by Sheffield City Council, of those pubs already closed, the average length of time they have been shut for is three and a half years.

One city boozer – believed to be The Fairfield Inn at Neepsend – has been shut for 12 years. The pub, which dates back to 1753, is subject to a planning application to reopen it with flats upstairs.

Kane added: “I was quite shocked by the figures but I know running a pub is difficult.

"It really depends on whether you have the right offer for the area you are in.”

Sheffield City Council refused to provide a list of the pubs which have closed because of fears this could make them “more vulnerable to criminal and anti-social activities”.

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