AN astonishing 10,000 pubs are predicted to close unless the Chancellor helps hospitality in Wednesday’s Autumn Statement.
Our Save Our Sups campaign demands Jeremy Hunt keeps a 75 per cent reduction in business rates for pubs, clubs and hotels due to end in April.
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He must also freeze alcohol duty so the hard-pressed sector need not raise booze prices.
Here, landlords and landladies from around the country tell Mike Ridley how Hunt can bring cheer to Britain’s boozers.
BUTCHERS ARMS
Bishop’s Itchington, Warks
LANDLORD Brian Ogden was forced to offload the Butchers Arms to a bar chain after almost going bust.
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He says the Chancellor will kill his boozer and many others if alcohol duty is raised again.
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The 61-year-old, and wife Selina, 50, who run the pub, also want a VAT cut – back to the 12.5 per cent it was during the Covid-19 outbreak.
Brian says: “It’s been a battle to get this far.
“We were tenant landlords for ten years and even managed to keep going during the pandemic, doing takeaway pints and food.
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“Takings dropped dramatically after Covid and we couldn’t afford to run the pub any more so had to ask pub chain Punch to take over.
“We now run it as a managed partnership.
“But the Chancellor is going to kill us and other pubs if duty rises again.”
THE FOUR ALLS INN
Higham, Lancs
BOSS Michael Bann needs £7,000 a week just to break even.
The landlord says electricity bills have soared to £1,200 a month.
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The 41-year-old and landlady wife Marina, 31, have also discovered they have been paying far too much for business rates – and are now applying for a refund.
The couple are backing our Save Our Sups campaign.
Michael says: “Landlords are struggling to keep trading and pubs are closing daily. Once they shut they rarely re-open.
“Extending business rate relief will help but the Government could do more to help pubs.
“Cutting the 20 per cent VAT and beer duty would help greatly.
“In Germany, VAT is seven per cent and they pay only a fraction of what we do in beer duty.
“It’s been difficult and we try to keep prices as low as possible.
“We are fortunate because we don’t pay rent. If we rented the pub it would be very tough and we’d have to buy the drinks from one brewery.”
PARK TAVERN
Wandsworth, S London
PUB manager Steven Rowland fears Christmas party booking cancellations if alcohol tax increases on Wednesday.
The independent pub had planned to order 3,500 pints of beer a week in December but duty increases could force it to cut the delivery.
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Steven, 33, says: “Beer duty going up again would be a disaster.
“We have got plenty of party bookings in December.
“But we would expect some cancellations if duty goes up, as we would have no choice but to put up our prices.
“Raising our prices again would feel like a slap in the face to our regulars who kept us going through Covid.
“More people would stay at home and do less socialising.”
NAILCOTE HALL HOTEL
Solihull, W Mids
SUE and Rick Cressman have run the privately-owned Nailcote Hall Hotel for three decades.
Rick, 72, says: “The past four years have been the most challenging, difficult and stressful ever.
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“The Government is annihilating us.
“They have to maintain the business rates relief because if they don’t, they will put so many businesses to death.”
Nailcote Hall receives a 75 per cent reduction in business rates.
Rick says: “If the rates reduction ended we would immediately have to find an extra £3,000 to £4,000 a month.
“At the same time the Chancellor is likely to increase the living wage, which will probably add an extra £3,000 a month.
“Those two things alone would increase our costs of being in business by £6,000 a month.”
To keep the business afloat during Covid Rick borrowed £800,000.
Then interest rates shot up. At the same time energy bills rose by £200,000 a year.
Rick adds that his staff rely on the hotel remaining in business.
He says: “I have 75 families who depend on me to keep the ship afloat but because of Covid we have only traded properly for 14 months out of the past 48.”
HOWARD ARMS
Brampton, Cumbria
THE Howard Arms will have to find an extra £8,000 if rates go back up.
The pub managed to stay open full time throughout the pandemic.
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But it might have to look at shorter hours for the business and staff if the Chancellor does not keep the business rates reduction.
Landlady Ruth Seggie, 54, says: “It’s been tough. The first lockdown was hard enough, the second one was a nightmare. We worked really hard to come through it.
“My business rates have a 75 per cent reduction at the moment and are £2,500 a year. If that comes off, the rates will go up to £10,500.
“I’d have to find that as well as the fact that gas has gone up £300 to £2,400 a month and electricity has gone from £2,000 to £4,000 a month.”
Ruth and husband Andrew, 55, employ 20 people at the pub.
She says: “To keep it running we need Government help.”
THE WHITE HOUSE
Bladon, Oxon
STAFF at Winston Churchill’s old local fear today’s Tory Government will rip the heart out of communities if they scrap business rates relief.
The White House boozer, where Churchill drank, is now a community owned pub after being bought by villagers three years ago.
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But it is now being walloped by rising costs.
Sous chef Charlie Tomkins, 23, says: “Business rates are a big part of our costs and continuing support would be a big help.
“Scrapping rates relief would be crippling.
“Food costs have all also gone up. It’s not just meat and fish, as there have also been increases in the prices of onions, peppers and tomatoes.
“We can’t afford Sky Sports and we make the minimum orders for beer, food and even napkins to keep our costs down.”
Landlord Ben Bullen, 39, adds: “How are small businesses meant to survive?”
