Britain's pub landlords have launched a furious condemnation of the Labour government, accusing it of treating the hospitality sector as a 'cash cow' as crippling tax raids threaten to force thousands of locals to close for good.
'Sleepless Nights' and Financial Ruin
Chancellor Rachel Reeves' Autumn tax hikes, including a major setback on business rates for the sector, have left owners facing 'sleepless nights' and choosing between permanent closure or financial ruin. In desperate bids to survive, pubs have ramped up pint prices, cut opening hours, and laid off staff following two punitive Labour budgets that increased business rates, National Insurance contributions, and the minimum wage.
Official figures revealed on Monday that more than 5,000 pubs are confronting a 'staggering' rise in business rates after their property tax valuations doubled. The head of the Valuation Office Agency (VOA) told MPs that 13 per cent of pubs – a total of 5,100 – have been hit with a 100 per cent increase in their 'rateable value', the figure used to calculate their business rates bill.
Village Pub Hit by 2,000% Surge
For some, the situation is even more dire. Katie and James Genever, who run the grade II-listed, thatched Bertie Arms in Uffington, Lincolnshire, are facing a catastrophic 2,000 per cent surge. Their rateable value will leap from £2,250 to £46,000 this year.
Mrs Genever, a former nurse, said the increase would almost certainly wipe out any profits. "I really feel that hospitality as an industry has been persecuted and victimised by the government in the last few years," she told the Daily Mail. "It's one thing after another thing after another." The pub, owned by the couple since 2017, will pay business rates for the first time in April due to the end of pandemic-era relief.
She detailed how wage costs alone soared by £47,000 last year due to NI and living wage increases. "I really strongly believe that if any of the MPs or members of the government had to run a small business, they would have gone bankrupt," she added.
Industry-Wide Anger and Accusations of Betrayal
The anger is echoed across the country. Dawn Hopkins, who owns the Rose Inn in Norwich, accused the government of a 'business rates betrayal', saying promised reforms did the opposite. "We are just being squeezed so tightly," she said, listing rises in the minimum wage, National Insurance, and utilities.
Meanwhile, some lifelong Labour supporters are turning their backs on the party. Mat Blackwood, 56, who attended Labour's 1997 victory celebration, said: "I never thought I'd be potentially forced out of business by a Labour government. I won't vote Labour again under this leadership."
He fears the VOA has calculated revaluations based on 'actual turnover' rather than 'fair maintainable trade', unfairly penalising successful pubs. The rateable value of his 17th-century pub, The Old Sun in Buxton, has nearly quadrupled from £18,700 in the late 2010s to £65,000 from April – leading to a £20,000 hike in his annual bill. He has already lost £100,000 to higher costs over three years.
Fellow Buxton landlord Ian Howarth, who runs the Queen's Head, asked: "Why isn't rateable value based on profit?" He must find an extra £14,000 a year.
Simon Delaney, 60, who runs The Firbank Pub and Kitchen in Wythenshawe, Manchester, has seen his utility bill rocket from £5,000 to £17,000 and his business rates double. "I have sleepless nights where I just don't know what to do," he said. He has been forced to increase a pint of lager from £4 to £7 since Covid.
Emma McClarkin, CEO of the British Beer and Pub Association, warned: "For many, soaring employment costs, beer duty, and new business rates will be the last straw." The industry has lost close to 16,000 pubs since 2000.
While the Treasury has signalled a potential U-turn on the hikes, industry figures like Sacha Lord of the Night Time Industries Association warn any rescue package must apply to the whole hospitality sector, not just pubs, to prevent a 'catastrophic rate of failure'.
A Government spokesperson said: "We're protecting pubs, restaurants and cafés with the Budget's £4.3 billion support package."
