In this deeply concerning thread about restaurants, cafes and bars closing (which highlights the looming cut to the business rates discount in Wales as likely to sound the death knell for yet more establishments), Wales Online reporter Ben Summer apologised for its Cardiff-centricity: "That's my patch but this is happening all over Wales."
Take Newport, for example, where it's been announced that Tiny Rebel's bar on High Street will be closing at the end of this month. The loss of a city centre pub run by the local brewery, based in Rogerstone, is a significant symbolic blow, and the announcement from owners Brad Cummings and Gazz Williams pulled no punches, claiming that the city is "slowly imploding".
Cummings has since spoken to Wales Online's Jonathon Hill about the general strains on the business, but also those specific to the Newport bar - principally, disappointing footfall and a perceived lack of support from the council, which (much to Cummings' chagrin) continues to piss away money to cover the cost of empty units in the Friars Walk shopping centre.
The Tiny Rebel closure announcement coincided almost exactly with the opening of the new Corn Exchange venue, on the same street, whose team is led by Sam Dabb of local live music institution Le Pub. Meanwhile, another source of liquid refreshment, the Lamb, has reopened under the management of Vladyslava Krapyvka, and the Ukrainian's plans for the real ale pub sound very welcome indeed - so it's certainly not all doom and gloom.
Like Cummings, though, Krapyvka sees the city centre as "somewhat abandoned and unloved". Her hope is that a revamped Lamb can help to turn the tide and revive Newport's fortunes - but the circumstances behind Tiny Rebel's withdrawal indicate that doing so will be far from easy.
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