An extension of business rates relief is urgently needed to avoid further pub closures, according to industry trade bodies and representatives.
It comes after the Altus Group revealed 383 pubs, more than two a day, closed in the first six months of this year, representing a similar figure to the whole of 2022, when 386 were lost.
UKHospitality Chief Executive Kate Nicholls said that the figures were a “stark reminder” of the realities facing the sector, and urged that inaction on business rates would be detrimental to pubs and other hospitality venues.
“Businesses at the heart of communities gone forever, loyal staff losing their jobs and one less place for locals to eat and drink – this is the real cost of the economic turmoil many are facing.
“Even with rising costs and interest rates, more pain is set to come with an almost billion-pound hike in business rates next April. If the Government wants to back the nation’s hospitality venues, not lose them, it needs to urgently commit to an extension of business rates relief and a freeze in the current multiplier,” Nicholls added.
Responding to the news that pub numbers in England and Wales had fallen to their lowest on record, Chairman of the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA), Nik Antona described the figures as “shocking”, but not surprisIng given rising costs and “unfair business rates.”
”If we are to save more of our beloved pubs and social clubs from being lost as community hubs then we desperately need the Chancellor to use the Autumn Statement in November to extend help for licensees with business rates which is due to end in April next year,” he urged.
”Governments across the UK also need to reform and replace the deeply unfair business rates systems to give pubs a fighting chance of surviving and thriving”.
After the Crooked House in the West Midlands area of England was gutted by a fire that police suspect as arson, CAMRA is also calling on government to strengthen planning laws to make sure councils in England can protect pubs and require them to be converted back to their original use if they are unlawfully converted or demolished.
Emma McClarkin Chief Executive of the British Beer and Pub Association, said the figures are a sign of what’s to come if the government fail to implement wider business reform.
She said, ”Since 2020 our pubs have faced a myriad of challenges, from forced closures to an ongoing energy crisis and for many the looming increase in business rates early next year will be the last straw.
“Our pubs play a vital role in local socio-economic success all over the UK, but they aren’t able to do their very best work because they are under threat from unfair taxation through business rates and VAT, looming duty rises and extreme energy bills that are forcing publicans to make incredibly tough choices.
”Under the right conditions, our pubs have proven they are resilient, standing strong for centuries, but we really need the Government to lay foundations to ensure pubs can serve their communities now and in the future.”
