Paul Hodgson has run Tombstone in Great Yarmouth for 12 years (Image: Phil Harris/Daily Express)
It might be closing time for many British pubs – but one seaside town is refusing to call last orders. As UK watering holes reportedly shut at a staggering rate of about eight a week in 2025, Great Yarmouth appears to be bucking the trend, with more pubs per person than any other town.
Research by Best New Bingo Sites found that the iconic tourist destination has a ratio of 242 drinking establishments per 100,000 residents – an impressive achievement, considering that about a third of pubs have vanished nationwide in 25 years. The coastal resort has faced its own economic tidal waves, with a slump in traditional industries such as fishing, alongside the heartbreaking closure of many shops that were the lifeblood of the town centre. But even though Rachel Reeves’s recent tax-raising Budget means many are feeling the pinch, the Norfolk town’s packed bars and taverns show people still support their locals.
Read more: I visited iconic seaside town — it’s even better out of season
Konrad Beutler, vice-chairman of East Norfolk Campaign for Real Ale (Camra), said there was a “thriving” pub scene in Yarmouth all year round.
“The pub trade is good,” said Mr Beutler. “We go on a mini pub crawl on Christmas Day, and all the pubs are busy. The tourist trade is very good all year round.”
He added that Yarmouth was particularly renowned for real ale venues, unlike areas such as London, where pubs are better known for their food and entertainment.
“It’s very reasonable to be able to drink here,” he added. “There is very, very competitive pricing. The drink prices are an awful lot less than areas like Norwich.”
Konrad and Patricia Beutler are key members of East Norfolk Camra (Image: Phil Harris/Daily Express)
Yet it has not been plain sailing for even Yarmouth’s most successful pubs.
Paul Hodgson has steadily grown Tombstone from a private brewery into a saloon bar, open seven days a week, over the past 12 years.
It recorded its best-ever trading year in 2024, but he said: “It’s challenging.”
He largely blames Rachel Reeves’s November Budget for hiking taxes, which he believes will have a knock-on effect on customers.
“If they keep taxing people to the hilt, we’ve got to put our prices up at some stage,” he complained.
“Beer duty goes up in February, so I have to re-evaluate my prices. If it gets too dear, people won’t come in.
“Fortunately, we brew our own beer here, so we can keep the costs down. But electricity prices have gone through the roof. Do I see them coming down in the next two or three years? No, I don’t.
“Everything goes up again next year. The living wage has gone up. National Insurance contributions, they’ve recently gone up. They’re going to re-evaluate business rates. What that’s going to be like, who knows?
“They’re taking away the 40% reduction in hospitality business rates. That’s all going to have a knock-on effect.”
Paul Hodgson fears Rachel Reeves’s tax rises will force him to put up prices (Image: Phil Harris/Daily Express)
He wants the Chancellor to increase the threshold for VAT taxable turnover from £90,000 a year to £150,000 a year.
“That would take a whole swathe of small businesses out of it and save quite a bit of money, then we can reinvest that in the businesses to grow,” he explained.
“Will she listen to small businesses? I don’t think she will.
“The Government don’t help at all. This Government came in and said they had a plan. Well, I don’t know what that plan is. I think they just make it up as they go along.
“With this Budget, they’ve raised approximately £60billion in taxes over the last two years. It’s got to be paid for – people’s expenditure can only stretch so far.”
Paul Hodgson has no faith that Rachel Reeves will listen to pub owners (Image: Phil Harris/Daily Express)
Similarly, Ian Handley, landlord of The Coachmakers Arms, said he wanted “concessions” from Ms Reeves to help pubs save money in straitened times.
“I’ve been here 20 years,” he said. “I’ve seen the decline of the pub industry in Yarmouth. There’s one pub that’s closed that’s now a fish and chip shop, another one’s a supermarket. The other one around the corner is a solicitor’s.
“The list goes on. We never get help from the Government.”
He believes The Coachmakers has survived because of its heartwarming two-way relationship with customers – and that community feel seems to be the real reason pubs in Yarmouth are thriving.
For example, he and landlady Susan Colville buy regulars a drink on their birthday.
“We find because we’re here and we work behind the bar, we’re like the face of the pub,” she explained.
“We have a lot of people come back to see us. You know, even holidaymakers come here to see us.
“A lot of pubs are now a franchise. You don’t have that landlord/landlady feel. We do find that a lot of people return because of the landlord and landlady.
“It works both ways. We always say if you look after your customers, they will look after you – which they do, because they come in every day.”
Ian Handley and Susan Colville are the faces of The Coachmakers Arms (Image: Phil Harris/Daily Express)
One of the Coachmakers’ regulars is Ricky Jeffs, a property landlord who lives in Yarmouth.
The 47-year-old said of the town: “In the afternoons, it’s a bit like Benidorm. It’s nice.
“There are a lot of retired people here, and many of them enjoy a drink in the afternoon. They also play bingo and sing karaoke.
“The afternoons are lovely. It is retired people generally or people who are roofers who’ve worked since 6am and enjoy coming out.”
Ricky Jeffs describes Yarmouth as ‘a bit like Benidorm’ (Image: Phil Harris/Daily Express)
Vanessa Staff, landlady of The Market Tavern, which has been trading for 24 years, also said that older people kept Yarmouth’s pubs running.
“A lot of the older people want a conversation,” she said. “They’re on their own, and that’s what they come in for. They’ll come in for lunch on their own, and we’ll have a chat with them.
“Over the years, they’re in all the time, and they become part of your family, really.”
Vanessa Staff says a lot of older punters come into The Market Tavern for a chat as well as a drink (Image: Phil Harris/Daily Express)
Market Tavern regular Rene Iliff, 70, from Great Yarmouth, said low prices have succeeded in bringing punters in.
But he added: “I understand why they struggle. We’ve just had the Budget, and everything is going up and up.
“If you get a pub that closes around here, it’s unlikely it’ll ever reopen. Once they shut, they shut.”
Rene Iliff understands why pubs are struggling (Image: Phil Harris/Daily Express)
If there’s one thing punters and landlords can all agree on after a lively discussion at the bar, it’s that pubs are vital to Yarmouth and should be protected.
Mr Hodgson added: “They’re social, pubs. You get a lot of single people, elderly people, come out and socialise in pubs, and they meet people.
“Anyone can come, and everyone will talk to each other. If that goes, who are they going to talk to? They just sit at home on their own.
“If pubs go, people will miss them, and I think the social aspect of the country goes.”
