{"id":263588,"date":"2025-07-14T06:56:26","date_gmt":"2025-07-14T06:56:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/263588\/"},"modified":"2025-07-14T06:56:26","modified_gmt":"2025-07-14T06:56:26","slug":"pub-rates-misery-blights-summer-according-to-bosses","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/263588\/","title":{"rendered":"Pub rates misery blights summer, according to bosses"},"content":{"rendered":"

By EMILY HAWKINS <\/a> <\/p>\n

Updated: 16:50 EDT, 13 July 2025 <\/p>\n

Pubs are struggling to turn a profit despite the sunny weather as Labour drags its heels on tax reform, bosses have said.<\/p>\n

Drinkers are flocking to beer gardens for a pint but industry leaders say business rates mean takings are being drained away \u2013 despite pledges by Labour to change the system.<\/p>\n

Chancellor Rachel Reeves has piled on further pain with a rise in employer national insurance contributions that took effect in April.<\/p>\n

An industry forecast last week showed that one pub could close every single day this year across Britain.<\/p>\n

Chris Jowsey, the chief executive of Admiral Taverns, said: ‘On the face of it, pubs are doing really well because people are spending lots of money but none of it is translating to the bottom line.\u00a0<\/p>\n

‘Rather than layering on cost after cost, if they’re not careful they’re going to make hospitality extremely uninvestable. It’s really important that [Labour] do the rates reforms.’<\/p>\n

\"Claim:\u00a0Pubs <\/p>\n

Claim:\u00a0Pubs are struggling to turn a profit despite the sunny weather as Labour drags its heels on tax reform<\/p>\n

Simon Dodd, the boss of chain Young’s, said: ‘It has gone quite quiet on rates reform, which would help the whole sector.<\/p>\n

‘Labour came to power with this five-point plan for growth and the thing we would like sorted out is this. All we are asking for is a fair playing field.’<\/p>\n

He said his 230 pubs in London and the South East are ‘really, really busy’ thanks to the scorching weather.<\/p>\n

Dodd added: ‘We have broken records, the sun has really helped. The great British pub is alive and kicking.<\/p>\n

‘That said, if you are an independent operator at the moment, it is very, very hard.’<\/p>\n

Simon Emeny, chief executive of Fuller’s, said: ‘An overhaul of our archaic business rates is long overdue, and the truth is that the whole system is not fit for purpose. It was created and introduced at a time when the digital economy was not even a pipe dream and for 14 years the Conservatives put it in the ‘too difficult’ box.<\/p>\n

‘We are still awaiting the full details regarding the changes made by the Labour Government at the last Budget \u2013 but if the Chancellor thinks this is ‘job done’, she is a long way off the mark.’<\/p>\n

Business rates are a local levy based on the value of a commercial property, meaning shops and pubs pay a premium compared to online giants such as Amazon.<\/p>\n

The hospitality industry was hit by a \u00a3500m increase in business rates in April alongside a barrage of other costs imposed by Labour. That included the NI hike and a sharp increase in the minimum wage.<\/p>\n

Before the Budget, small\u00a0businesses had called for a\u00a0Covid-era discount of 75 per cent to be extended to give them some breathing space.<\/p>\n

But Labour reduced this to a 40 per cent discount, capped at \u00a3110,000 per pub.<\/p>\n

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\n Pub rates misery blights summer, according to bosses<\/p>\n