Reeves urged to act after hundreds of pubs call last orders in first half of year
More than 200 pubs across the UK closed their doors in the first half of the year, new figures show, as industry leaders urged Rachel Reeves to act to save the great British pub in the Budget.
Official Government statistics show 209 pubs were demolished or converted for other uses over the six months to June.
This included the 17th century Staveley Arms, in North Stainley near Ripon, and The Windmill Inn, near Wetherby, which dates back to 1564.
The data, which was analysed by commercial real estate specialists at Ryan, show the overall number of pubs in England and Wales, including those vacant and being offered to let, fell to 38,780.
It means 2,283 pubs have vanished from communities across England and Wales forever since the start of 2020.
At last year’s Budget Ms Reeves cut duty on draft beer, however at the same time there were increases to the national minimum wage, national insurance payments and business rates, which all hammered pubs.
In April, the national living wage rose by 6.7 per cent to £12.21 an hour for workers aged 21 and older.
At the same time, the Government increased the rate of employer national insurance contributions from 13.8 per cent to 15 per cent and also lowered the threshold at which firms would pay the tax.
Many pubs were also hit by changes to discounts on business rates, the property tax affecting high street businesses.
Industry bosses had warned the jump in taxes particularly would lead to an acceleration in pub closures.
In January, The Staveley Arms said: “With further major business impacts imminent from the recent Budget in the form of increased employment costs and national insurance, before even allowing for the inevitable price rises on supplies as all businesses try to combat these factors, we have concluded it is not possible to make the business sustainably viable and have made the very difficult decision to not continue.”
Emma McClarkin, chief executive of the British Beer and Pub Association, said the Government needs to act quickly to save pubs across the country.
She said: “It’s absolutely heartbreaking and there is a direct link between pubs closing for good and the huge jump in costs they have just endured.
“Pubs and brewers are important employers, drivers of economic growth, but are also really valuable to local communities across the country and have real social value.
“This is a really sad pattern, and unfortunately a lot of these pubs never come back.
“The Government needs to act at the Budget, with major reforms to business rates and beer duty.”
Alex Probyn, practice leader of property tax at Ryan, warned the squeeze on the pub trade is intensifying.
He said: “The combination of soaring business rates, higher national insurance contributions, the rising national minimum wage and packaging taxes are all quietly draining profits until staying open becomes impossible.
“When that happens, developers are quick to snap up the plots for more lucrative uses.”