Managing director of the Three Hills at Bartlow in Cambridge, Emma Harrison, wrote to South Cambridgeshire MP Pippa Heylings outlining the impact of new business rates valuations.
For the Three Hills, rates will rise by 55% in the first instance, and by 123% once the current 40% discount ends.
Harrison said the increase came without explanation, claiming the Valuation Office Agency (VOA) had not visited or contacted the pub, adding the figure was based on data that does not fully represent the challenges faced by the business.
Fundamentally flawed
The managing director, who shared the letter with The Morning Advertiser (The MA), also argued the current system penalises rural pubs compared to venues in larger villages with higher footfall.
“The system is fundamentally flawed,” she wrote, pointing out pubs are valued on sales while restaurants and other businesses are assessed on floor space. “Most pubs now operate as restaurants to survive. The distinction is outdated and punitive.”
Harrison also questioned what business rates actually fund, noting the pub pays privately for waste collection and maintains its own sewage system.
She also highlighted a recent incident where police failed to provide adequate support, adding: “Right now, business rates feel like nothing more than another tax, and an arbitrary one at that.”
Calling for urgent reform, Harrison urged the Government to challenge VOA valuations, demand transparency and deliver “fair and meaningful” changes. She also called for the Chancellor to be held accountable for statements that “do not match reality”.
“The Three Hills is not a line item in a Treasury model – it is a major employer in a tiny rural village,” the letter continued.
Fragile supply chain
“We employ 45 people: chefs and housekeepers with families and mortgages; young front-of-house staff taking their first steps into the working world; long-standing team members whose livelihoods depend on us staying open.
“Every quarter we hand over more than £50,000 in VAT. We pay every rising payroll tax. We pay business rates. We pay for plumbers, electricians, sewage specialists, chimney sweeps, pest control, gardeners, IT support, bookkeepers, accountants, and countless other trades whose livelihoods depend on businesses like ours. We source food from around ten local suppliers, sustaining a fragile rural supply chain."
Harrison warned escalating costs could push even the most successful pubs to closure: “We cannot keep asking customers to pay more. We cannot keep absorbing endless new taxes, levies and duties to feed an ever-expanding welfare burden that grows faster than the private sector can sustain. There is a breaking point – and we are dangerously close to it.
“If the Labour Government is prepared to preside over - and be remembered for - the death of the great British pub, then it need only continue on its present course.”
