{"id":28561,"date":"2026-05-04T23:23:11","date_gmt":"2026-05-04T23:23:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/28561\/"},"modified":"2026-05-04T23:23:11","modified_gmt":"2026-05-04T23:23:11","slug":"around-two-pubs-in-britain-closing-each-day-after-tax-hikes-figures-suggest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/28561\/","title":{"rendered":"Around two pubs in Britain closing each day after tax hikes, figures suggest"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Around two pubs closed each day in the first three months of the year amid pressure from higher taxes and regulatory costs, according to industry figures.<\/p>\n

The British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA) warned that the closures equate to the loss of around 2,400 jobs, with a particular hit to younger workers.<\/p>\n

Figures from the trade organisation show that 161 pubs closed across Britain in the first quarter of the year.<\/p>\n

It represents a 26% jump against the same period last year, with local pubs having come under pressure from rising labour costs, taxes and caution among consumers.<\/p>\n

Early this year, the Government announced business rates support for pubs after warnings from the sector that further tax changes could lead to more closures and job losses.<\/p>\n

\"Pub The number of closures was 26% up on the same period in 2025 (Dominic Lipinski\/PA) \u00b7 Dominic Lipinski <\/p>\n

A 15% tax relief for pubs and music venues came into effect last month.<\/p>\n

However, measures from last November\u2019s budget, such as an increase in the minimum wage, still added to a significant jump in business costs for pubs and brewers.<\/p>\n

The BBPA said the latest closure figures highlight a need for longer-term changes to business rates and a wider overhaul of taxes on the hospitality sector.<\/p>\n

Emma McClarkin, chief executive of the BBPA, said: \u201cThe scale of these closures is avoidable because pubs are doing a brisk trade, but their profits are wiped out by a disproportionate tax burden and huge costs.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor too many, the sheer weight of taxes and regulatory costs have forced them to shut up shop, which will only hurt communities, workers, and the wider economy.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis underscores why Government\u2019s business rates relief was so necessary, and the support such a welcome relief.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want to work with Government to establish a permanent long-term plan that will deliver permanently lower bills, a fairer system and ultimately protect this treasured sector.\u201d<\/p>\n

It comes after a 336 drop in British pub numbers last year to 44,656. It meant more than 2,000 pubs had closed since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020.<\/p>\n

Wales was the only part of Great Britain to report a rise in pub numbers in the latest data, while Scotland witnessed the heaviest fall in numbers.<\/p>\n

Here are the number of closures in each British region:<\/p>\n

East of England, 16 closures to 3,682 pubs
West Midlands, 11 closures to 3,910 pubs
South West, 13 closures to 4,582 pubs
North West, 18 closures to 5,145 pubs
Yorkshire and The Humber, 10 closures to 4,235 pubs
South East, 26 closures to 5,643 pubs
London, 17 closures to 3,432 pubs
North East, 2 closures to 1,926 pubs
East Midlands, 10 closures to 3,579 pubs
Wales, 3 pubs gained to 2,901 pubs
Scotland, 41 closures to 4,188 pubs<\/p>\n

The UK Spirits Alliance, which represents hundreds of distillers across Britain, urged the Government to carry out a \u201cproper review\u201d of excise duty as hospitality is \u201cfighting for our very survival\u201d.<\/p>\n

Neema Rai, spokeswoman for the group and co-founder of Westminster-based Tamesis Dock and the Battersea Barge, said: \u201cPubs have been hit hard in recent years and we\u2019ve just been hit by yet another excise duty hike.<\/p>\n

\u201cSpirits offer higher profit margins and help keep us afloat, yet we have the highest rate of excise duty in the G7.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Government needs to carry out a proper review of excise duty if it\u2019s serious about supporting hospitality because we\u2019re fighting for our very survival.\u201d<\/p>\n

A Government spokesperson said: \u201cWe are backing Britain\u2019s pubs \u2013 cutting April\u2019s business rates bills by 15% followed by a two-year freeze, extending World Cup opening hours and increasing the Hospitality Support Fund to \u00a310 million to help venues grow. Later this year, we\u2019ll also build on our Pride in Place programme with our new High Streets Strategy to revitalise our town centres.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis comes on top of capping corporation tax, cutting alcohol duty on draught pints and six cuts in interest rates, benefiting businesses in every part of Britain.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Around two pubs closed each day in the first three months of the year amid pressure from higher…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":28562,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[12515,13,12512,172,12514,12516,12513],"class_list":{"0":"post-28561","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-britain","8":"tag-bbpa","9":"tag-britain","10":"tag-business-rates","11":"tag-great-britain","12":"tag-hospitality-sector","13":"tag-local-pubs","14":"tag-regulatory-costs"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@UnitedKingdom\/116518886563127628","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28561","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28561"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28561\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28562"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28561"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28561"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28561"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}