Pubs don’t want a bailout, they want to be able to trade vibrantly and help to boost the economy.
That was the message from Chris Jowsey (pictured), chief executive of Admiral Taverns, on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme this morning. Like many in hospitality, he’s repeatedly heard the chancellor say that support is coming, but hasn’t heard anything of detail yet.
“We have over 1,000 licensees out there who really are quite concerned now because we don’t know what the future holds,” he told BBC business producer Will Harris.
“Most of them are on a five-year agreement, so unless they get some clarity soon it makes it very difficult for them to make decisions.”
He said that, in April, business rates will rise by 25% on average, versus where they are now, but by the end of three years that increase will be 173%.
But he said pubs were not looking for support — they didn’t want a bailout. “We’re part of a really vibrant industry. All we want to do is trade our way out of this, do the best we possibly can with our entrepreneurs, and actually, if we’re not hindered by a burden of huge tax increases, then they’ll be able to trade out, we’ll be able to invest, and obviously we’ll get growth from the economy, too. So it’s a win win all round.”
It’s the business revaluations which are having most impact, but repaying Covid reliefs are an important factor, too. Jowsey acknowledged that those loans have to be unwound at some point, but for now it is the business rate revaluations which need addressing.
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Licensees haven’t seen profits go up, but revenues have. This is because of increasing costs across the board — labour, energy, “everything that goes into running a good pub”.
Jowsey said there was a precedent for help, though, because in 2017 government introduced a pub-specific relief recognising that revenue didn’t translate into profit for many, many pubs, especially community pubs.
“We don’t really want to incur on the government’s expenditure, we just want to be able to get through this and trade our way out of it,” he said.
“There’s over a million jobs tied up in the industry across the UK, obviously in every constituency, in every part of the land, so it’s really significant in terms of investment and growth and, ultimately, employment, so we’re waiting with bated breath. We’re very keen to get on with this, but we need to know the detail.”
• Prince William has pledged to support pubs during a visit to The Gothenburg pub, in Fallin, Scotland. “I want to help pubs,” he said. “This is the best place to come and get to know each other.” He praised pubs social role, and their place “at the heart of the community”.
• More than 20,000 jobs have been lost in hospitality since September, according to data from the Office for National Statistics. UKHospitality said the figures reinforce the scale of the challenges facing the industry. Changes to employers’ National Insurance contributions and other increased employment costs continue to affect the sector, before planned business rate rises in April.
