City centre is not slowly imploding, council says

Newport council has hit back at a brewery after it blamed the closure of its pub on a "slowly imploding" city centre.

Tiny Rebel confirmed on Tuesday it would close its pub on High Street at the end of the month.

Announcing the move, the Rogerstone-based brewery said it was the victim of reduced footfall, increased costs and a lack of government support.

Newport Council called the decision to close "disappointing", adding it "does not recognise the description given of the city centre”.

In its statement, Tiny Rebel said it had “worked tirelessly to keep the bar financially viable, but it has got to a point where we have had to make some difficult decisions to ensure the future of the business”.

“Since the pandemic, Newport city centre has been slowly imploding, with retail and hospitality suffering the worst," it said in a post on social media.

“Unfortunately, our Tiny Rebel bar on Newport High Street has been a casualty of these factors.”

The firm’s operations in Rogerstone and Cardiff will continue.

A spokesman for the council told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) the city's High Street was "busier now than it has been for several years”.

They cited the transformation of the Corn Exchange building into a music venue and work to convert the indoor market into a food court and events space as evidence of the city centre's resurgence.

The brewery also criticised what it described as a lack of government support.

The announcement came several days after the leader of Newport Council confirmed plans to regenerate central Newport, as well as the renewal of a business rates relief scheme for traders.

The Welsh Government has also recently renewed its own business rates relief scheme, albeit at a lower level of support than last year.

Newport council opposition leader Matthew Evans has called on the authority to offer Tiny Rebel support.

He told the LDRS Newport city centre had “enormous unfilled potential” and “could understand why” residents didn’t share the council’s optimism.

“We simply cannot afford to lose independent traders in the city,” Mr Evans added, calling for more help for Welsh businesses.