Rachel Reeves has been urged to fix the broken business rates system to give pubs ‘breathing space’ as they fight to stay afloat.
More than 600 landlords warned in a letter to the Chancellor that ‘many pubs are struggling to make ends meet’ with ‘intense cost pressures making survival increasingly difficult’.
The letter calls for a lower business rates bill for pubs to be introduced in the Budget this autumn – saving each venue an average of £10,000 a year.
The landlords, who operate 613 pubs owned by Greene King, said this would ‘recognise the unique economic and social value pubs bring to communities across the UK’ and ‘provide immediate relief’ to their businesses.
‘Business rates are one of the biggest barriers to growth in the pub sector, placing a disproportionate burden on businesses of all sizes,’ said Greene King chief executive Nick Mackenzie, whose chain runs 2,700 pubs.
The hospitality industry was hit by a £500m increase in business rates in April alongside a barrage of other costs imposed by Labour.
Raising a glass: Chancellor Rachel Reeves pictured with Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner
That included the national insurance hike and a sharp increase in the minimum wage.
Some 89,000 jobs have been axed in restaurants, bars, pubs and hotels since Reeves’ Budget last October, according to analysis of official figures by trade body UK Hospitality.
And there are fears more tax rises would exacerbate worrying rates of venue closures and job losses.
The sector is also grappling with high energy bills, which landlords say have tripled since the pandemic, while food prices have also risen in recent months.
‘With costs rising across the board, many pubs are struggling to make ends meet, leaving them less able to invest in staff, improve their spaces, or support local economic growth,’ the letter warned.
‘While pubs are well placed to support local growth, intense cost pressures are making survival increasingly difficult.’
Mackenzie said Labour must follow through on its pledge to reform business rates.
In its manifesto, the party promised to ‘replace the business rates system, so we can raise the same revenue but in a fairer way’.
Mackenzie said Reeves could make an ‘immediate, positive impact’ by introducing a lower, permanent and universal rate, or ‘multiplier’, for pubs.
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