Licensees of 613 Greene King pubs have signed an open letter to Rachel Reeves calling for business rates reformation to provide “breathing space to invest” in their pubs.
The letter called for a specific, lower business rates multiplier for all pubs at the Autumn Budget, giving them a 20p discount on their current rate.
Greene King estimated the move could realise £13.7m in immediate annual savings across its managed pub estate if introduced at the Budget, or an average of £10,000 per pub.
Longer term, the letter also outlined the need for the Treasury to deliver on its promise of delivering fundamental reform of the business rates system, recommending the Valuation Office Agency calculate pubs’ rateable values on profitability instead of turnover.
The signatories said the measures would “recognise the unique economic and social value pubs bring to communities across the UK”.
Nationally, the 39,989 pubs in England and Wales account for just 0.4% of business turnover but pay 2.1% of the national business rates bill.
Economic growth
If taxed proportionately, the pub sector would pay £130m instead of the £637m it currently pays, according to Greene King.
The letter stated: “The current system is a heavy burden on our sector, which has already seen significant cost rises in recent years, and it is stifling our ability to deliver the economic growth that our country needs.”
Rising business rates costs, alongside higher employment, food and energy costs, have already put pressure on operators across the sector.
The upcoming property revaluations and removal of temporary relief mean publicans could end up paying thousands more next year.
Licensee of Greene King pub the Portland Arms in Cambridge, Hayley Pellegrini, who has been at the helm of the business since 2004, has experienced a £7,000 increase in business rates at the pub this year.
Pellegrini said she has already reduced midweek opening hours because of this but fears hiring part-time staff “may not be financially viable” soon because of additional employee costs.
The operator has been picking up extra hours herself, adding she’s paying herself less than minimum wage for the hours she’s working.
Meanwhile former Great British Pub Awards winner Mark Annear, who runs Greene King’s the Cott Inn, Devon, has seen his business rates bill jump by 175% from £400 per month in 2024 to £1,100 per month in 2025.
Disproportionate burden
Annear said he is struggling to juggle the bills and recently chose not to replace a manager who had departed as he could no longer afford to pay the wages.
In addition, Greene King’s the Crown pub in Carlisle, which is run by Dianne Irving, another former Great British Pub Awards winner, has had to cope with a 140% increase in business rates, up from £536 per month in 2024 to £1,287 per month in 2025.
Greene King CEO and chair of the British Beer & Pub Association (BBPA) Nick Mackenzie said: “Business rates are one of the biggest barriers to growth in the pub sector, placing a disproportionate burden on businesses of all sizes.
“The widespread support for these proposals shows the transformative impact they could have, unlocking investment in every corner of the country.
Mackenzie added some of the operators that signed the letter will have the opportunity to meet with MPs to discuss their experiences and the need to change the system at an event hosted by Greene King at Portcullis House in Westminster on Monday 8 September.
In addition, the CEO said Greene King had estimated the two changes it proposed to business rates could unlock in excess of £20m a year from its 1,500 managed pubs alone.
He continued: “We urge the Chancellor to listen to these calls and deliver a lower multiplier for pubs at the Budget as a step towards the promised long-term reform to fix the system and ensure it fairly represents today’s business realities.”
