Wigham: Pub trade must unite to achieve VAT cut

I met Kate Nicholls — ALMR strategic affairs director — recently, following her visit to HM Treasury with the famous (dare I say infamous!) Jacques Borel on the subject of VAT.

Unashamedly, I have been sceptical. I am a chartered accountant with a vague understanding of macro-economics, and I know that if you knock out a big lump of Government revenue in one place, it will just reappear in another.

I have heard Tim Martin’s impassioned pleas too, but logic had always persuaded me to the negative. But then I got to thinking. A clever fellow, who will remain nameless, pointed out to me recently that in the ALMR alone, we represent operators that employ a huge number of people — 325,000 at the latest estimates. Across the industry, we employ two million people in our bars and restaurants, plus there are many thousands of employees in the businesses that service us.

We employ builders to maintain our premises, we pay fortunes in rates compared to others, we pay and maintain musicians, we collect taxes for Government, we buy ancillary products from thousands of suppliers, and so the list goes on.

Another clever chap, Brian Keeley-Whiting, recently reminded me that we have one million young unemployed people who cost the state loads of money and who appear uninterested in training in our industry, possibly through lack of knowledge of the opportunity.

So why can’t 5% VAT happen? Make no mistake — my prices will not tumble far. However, I will go to the ends of the realistic earth to boost my service levels and make my sites better than my competition with any newly found margin.

No question, we already accept that we have to do this and lower taxes will help increase the rate at which we do it.

We will employ more, we will train more, we will build more and we will reduce the burden on the state.

We have to ask for it. We all have to get behind it. If we all get together and tell the world what we do, be it providing employment, boosting charity donations, promoting provenance etc then we can prove to the Government that we can increase economic activity in an important and innovative sector of UK plc.

Everyone must beat this drum whatever the belief — if we do not ask, we do not get.