Two thousand of the nation’s pubs are facing last orders the British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA) has warned, as it calls on the government to extend a lifeline to the sector.
The BBPA is calling on the government to use the spring Budget to show it understands just how much pubs and breweries mean to their communities, and the pressures the sector is facing. It wants the Conservatives to deliver a plan for sustainable growth with fair, modernised tax rates, and a focus on the skills and training needed to ensure pubs and breweries can thrive.
The organisation os calling on chancellor Jeremy Hunt to freeze duty rates, implement a significant increase in the discount for draught beer sold in pubs, and introduce the previously announced reduced rate for lower-strength beers from 1st August.
And ahead of the Energy Bill Relief Scheme being significantly reduced from 1st April, the BBPA is also continuing to highlight the poor practices of energy suppliers and the ongoing impact soaring energy costs is having on the industry. It is insisting that the government holds suppliers accountable and fixes a broken system that is penalising hospitality businesses.
The BBPA’s call comes as data from Oxford Economics estimates on-trade beer sales will decline by 9% in 2023/4. This equates to one million fewer barrels of beer sold (288 million pints) and 25,000 potential job losses in pubs and the wider industry.
It also follows a new survey that reveals just how much Brits value their beloved locals. Venues up and down the country are celebrated as spaces that provide first jobs, form friendships, bring communities together, and help people find love.
Sixty-nine per cent of respondents agreed that local pubs play an important role in bringing communities together, while more than two-thirds (67%) say they play an important role in creating jobs. Six in ten are concerned about an increase in loneliness if more local pubs close down, while 42% agree that closure of their local pub would devastate their community.
In what’s being termed a make-or-break moment for the sector, the BBPA is also encouraging those interested in supporting their local pub to sign their Long Live the Local petition, at longlivethelocal.pub, and share their favourite pub memories across social media using the #LongLiveTheLocal hashtag.
“It is crucial the government shows in this Budget that it understands the pressures the sector is facing and just how much our pubs and breweries mean to communities everywhere across the UK,” said BBPA chief executive Emma McClarkin.
“We urgently need the chancellor to deliver a plan for sustainable growth with fair, modernised tax rates, and a focus on skills and training needed to ensure pubs and breweries can thrive.
“After almost three years of extremely tough trading conditions due to lockdowns, an energy crisis, supply chain disruptions, and more, now is a make-or-break moment to save our locals and breweries from failure now in the years to come. We need the government to act now or risk losing something very special forever.”
Case studies
Joanne Farrell, who has run the Windsor Castle pub, near Stockport, for more than 15 years, said she has resorted to installing a woodburner to save on bills, vaccuum cleaning in the dark, and lighting candles where possible to avoid using too much electricity.
Emma Shepherd who runs The Blue Ball Inn, in Worrall, Yorkshire, said her fixed rate electricity contract is due to end in just under a month’s time and she is struggling to find a new provider, with one quoting a standing charge rate that would be a 1,000%-plus increase on what she currently pays.
She describes herself as passionate about keeping the pub open at the heart of the community, where it regularly raises money for local good causes, and hosts events and opportunities for local people to come together, from coffee mornings to dementia-friendly days.
Anthony Pender, of the historic Somerstown Coffee House, in London, a pub that focuses on ales and British seafood, said: “In January, my gas bill was £4,800 and we had £1,600 government relief. Similar bills were generally around £800 prior to increases. Without relief and at full business rates, we would lose money as a venue.”
Keris de Villiers, of the Pig & Whistle, in Wandsworth, said that in ten years of running the pub she has never found it so difficult to turn a profit. She said: “We got through Covid, but the cost-of-living crisis is worse… Costs on everything across our business, from energy to ingredients, have rocketed.”
