Two pubs shutting every day this year after Labour tax raid
Hospitality industry ‘pushed to the brink’ with thousands of jobs lost, British Beer and Pub Association warns
Pubs have closed at a rate of almost two every day so far this year after Rachel Reeves’s tax raid piled pressure on the hospitality industry.
Some 161 pubs shut their doors for good in the first three months of the year, according to the British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA). Closures are gathering pace, with a 26pc increase compared to the same period a year earlier.
The BBPA, which represents the pub industry, said closures so far this year had resulted in more than 2,400 job losses, half of which were among staff aged under 25.
The closures follow a barrage of tax increases and additional costs since Labour came to power, including a rise in employers’ National Insurance contributions, changes to business rates and inflation-busting increases to wage bills.
Writing for The Telegraph, Emma McClarkin, the chief executive of the British Beer and Pub Association, said: “For too long, pubs have operated under a disproportionate tax burden, with one in every three pounds spent by customers in the pub going straight to the Treasury.
“Add to this ever-rising energy bills, wage pressures and increased regulatory costs and it becomes clear why so many otherwise-viable businesses have been pushed to the brink.”
The Telegraph has been campaigning to save Britain’s locals from sky-high taxes and burdensome red tape through its Save Our Pubs campaign.
The campaign achieved a significant victory in January when the Chancellor said pubs would get a 15pc cut to new business rates bills from April, followed by a two-year real-terms freeze.
However, many pubs have warned they were still facing a significant increase in their business rates bill under Ms Reeves’s Budget changes.
Ms McClarkin said: “Temporary relief measures, while vital, cannot on their own offset a system that places such a heavy and uneven burden on pubs.”
The BBPA has called on the Government to support the sector by cutting beer duty and VAT, as well as introducing fair reform of business rates.
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The hospitality sector has been hit hard by Labour’s tax rises and employment changes, with more than 100,000 jobs lost in the sector since October 2024. The BBPA said that Budget measures unveiled last November added £322bn in costs for pubs and brewers.
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The stakes could not be higher because pubs are not just businesses, they are the cornerstones of our communities. When they fall, there is a direct effect on the local high street and in the very social fabric of our towns and villages.
The Telegraph: continue reading
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