World Cup final resulted in ‘double-digit revenue rise’
Despite England’s loss in the final stage of the tournament, the British Beer & Pub Association (BBPA) stated the increases were achieved despite many pubs facing restrictions on when they could serve alcohol due to licensing hours.
The trade body also urged the Government to alter the Licensing Act 2003 to reflect the need for blanket licensing changes for moments such as the World Cup final last week.
Heroic performance
It said when parliament was not sitting, the Licensing Act 2003 was ‘far too prescriptive in permitting urgent one-off measures to be taken’.
Furthermore, the association also stated an amendment to the act should ‘quick, easy and uncontroversial to achieve’ while it urged the Government to table this measure and for all parliamentarians to support it.
BBPA chief executive Emma McClarkin said: “Despite the Lionesses not being able to claim victory on Sunday, they won the hearts of the nation and inspired the millions of people who cheered them on at the pub and elsewhere through their heroic performance in this tournament.
“It’s great this success was able to give a boost to our pubs after a year where they’ve faced a range of challenges from unsustainably high energy bills to double digit duty increases."
Importance legislation
She added: “Despite the Government’s valuable work encouraging local authorities to support pubs on Sunday, we now need the law to reflect the reality that strict, prescriptive licensing cannot easily flex when key events are taking place while parliament is not sitting.
“The Licensing Act is an important piece of legislation but it was never intended to be so flexible as to stand in the way of communities coming together and enjoy a beer and celebrate one-off events of national interest.
“MPs know pubs are the focal points of their local communities so let’s work together to get an amendment quickly agreed.”
