'If you stand still, you go backwards' - How Yorkshire pubs are faring in challenging times for hospitality
Laura Reid speaks to Yorkshire licensees as she looks at how pubs are faring in yet more challenging – and expensive – times for the hospitality industry.
Lynn Nordan pauses to reflect on her 20 years at the helm of The Star Inn pub in Filey, a milestone she is rightly proud to have reached. In the last few years alone, the sector has been hit by challenge after challenge, from the Covid-19 pandemic to the cost-of-living crisis and rising running costs.
“We've just tried to keep slightly ahead of the times rather than keeping up,” reflects licensee Lynn. “You've got to evolve. You've got to change.” Her partner, Chris, transitioned from running a builders’ merchant 13 years ago to join her at The Star. “We have a bit of a motto - If you stand still, you go backwards,” he explains. “So, we've always over the years tried to keep going forward, coming with new ideas and keep in front of the crowd.”
They try to stay positive. But it can’t always be easy. One pub a day closed its doors for good in England and Wales last year, with cost pressures weighing heavily on the sector. At the start of this month, hospitality trade associations also warned that cost increases would cause job losses and hit business viability. There are lots of costs that go into running a pub before it can even open up, explains Morgan Schondelmeier, Tax and Trade Policy Manager at the British Beer and Pub Association. These include employment costs and business rates, which have both seen recent increases, alcohol duty, and the cost of goods and services, including energy. “All of these things add up,” notes Morgan.
The trade association represents pubs and breweries across the country. In a member survey, carried out in February with other organisations including UKHospitality and the British Institute of Innkeeping, 64 per cent of hospitality businesses said they would slash jobs as a result of increases to employment costs and business rates, 51 per cent said they would cancel investment plans, and 42 per cent said they would reduce trading hours. Around one in seven venues could be forced to close.
In a joint statement, the trade bodies said: “Hospitality’s tax burden – the highest in the economy – is suffocating the sector. The impact is clear: more lost jobs, less investment and business closures. The jobs, communities and livelihoods we support are hit once again. The worrying situation facing the business energy market has the potential to accelerate all of these impacts. Even before the conflict in Iran and the Middle East began, increasing energy prices were already impacting profitability….Hospitality businesses are clear that cutting their costs through a lower rate of VAT, business rates reform or changes to employer National Insurance contributions will deliver new jobs, investment and growth.”
The bodies do, however, recognise the “necessary and welcome support for pubs on business rates”. The government says all pubs and live music venues will benefit from a 15 per cent business rates relief in 2026-27 and their bills will then be frozen in real terms for a further two years. That support, says Morgan, is “super valuable”. “But we have to tackle the overall cost of doing business and that’s everything - energy, beer duty, wage costs, taxes. All of that has to be looked at in the round and the government needs to recognise that a closed pub is devastating to communities.”
An open one, by contrast, not only provides employment opportunities in the area, it offers a place for socialisation that can help to address loneliness and social isolation. Community activities are at the core of many, from watching sport, to seeing live music, and taking part in quiz nights or fundraising events. Some pubs have further diversified in the hope of reaching new audiences, particularly given changing consumer habits such as more daytime and evening outings, rather than late at night, and the consumption of more low and no alcohol drinks.
Beth Robinson has run The Beeswing Inn, in East Cowton, near Northallerton for 13 years. These days, art classes, toddler groups and games nights are all part of the pub’s programme. “13 years ago, you could open your doors and people were coming in,” she says. “Now people are looking for a reason to come. Coming out for something to eat or for a drink is enough for some, but others want other reasons. And I think the industry is having to work harder to come up with ideas.”
The Beeswing is part of the Punch Pubs company, which has recently released a report with Northumbria University suggesting the average (Punch) pub in the UK contributes £1.3 million in economic and social value to its local community every year. Beth says: “With so many community spaces disappearing, pubs like ours have to step in. We open our doors because it isn’t always about making money. It’s about giving people a warm, welcoming place where they feel seen, and creating space for people to meet one another.”
Publicans, says Morgan, are having to find a hard balance between making a living for themselves whilst also still serving their communities. And the picture now, says Beth, is more worrying than during the covid pandemic. “At least then you knew there was an end coming,” she notes. “I think 2026 we’re heading into another perfect storm. An increase in food, drinks, electricity costs, our rates, which is quite scary for a lot of people even with 15 per cent relief. The overheads now are so astronomical.”
Over in Filey, it’s a similar story. As a coastal destination, the town draws in the tourist trade but Lynn says it’s been an uncertain start to the year for her Admiral Taverns-owned pub, with the volatile geopolitical climate impacting on things like fuel prices and the amount of disposable income of pub punters. “I think as far as the industry is concerned, it's very scary,” she reflects. “We're going to have to see a lot of change within the industry from above and from within us all as well because we're going to have to put the effort in to make it work. You can't just turn up and turn the lights on.”
The Government told The Yorkshire Post it recognised that pubs are “the heart of our communities and we want them to thrive”. A HM Treasury spokesperson said: “We have the right economic plan - we're reforming business rates to back the hospitality sector with a £4.3bn support package to limit bills rises, alongside capping Corporation Tax at 25 per cent, cutting red tape and taking action on the cost of living to boost the sector. We’re also cutting the business rates tax rate by 5p for hospitality, funded by higher bills for the top one per cent most expensive properties.”