Legislation

Business rates relief welcomed in Scotland but many will miss out

Trade bodies in Scotland have welcomed the announcement of extra support on business rates for pubs and bars but warned larger companies will see no benefits.

Rogue biz rates agents ‘capitalising’ on post-Budget chaos

Budget confusion has seen an increase in the number of rogue agents targeting pubs, a leading adviser has warned.

OPINION

OPINION: Gov gaslighting off the scale

To mangle the Godfather quote, just when you think you’ve turned a corner, they pull you right back to where you started.

MP blames pubs and trade bodies for biz rates backlash

A Treasury minister has hit back at critics of Labour’s business rates shake-up, claiming the fallout came from pub operators and industry leaders failing to understand pandemic-era aid was always going to be pulled.

Trade bodies urge ‘evidence-led’ approach to drink-drive limit changes

Trade bodies have urged the Government to take a proportionate and evidence-led approach to potential changes to England’s drink-drive limit.

Landlord highlights cost pressures with satirical ‘Rachel Thieves’ pump

A Hertfordshire pub landlord has installed a pump clip labelled ‘Rachel Thieves’ to highlight the growing tax and cost pressures facing pubs, as operators warn that rising business rates and supplier costs are becoming increasingly unsustainable.

Welsh Gov 15% biz rates discount ‘doesn’t go far enough’

Wales’ First Minister Eluned Morgan has announced a 15% business rates discount for pubs, restaurants, cafés and live music venues in Wales.

Reform UK sets out plan for pubs including VAT cut and biz rates abolition

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has set out a five point plan for pubs and the wider hospitality sector, including cuts to beer duty and VAT, the phased abolition of business rates and changes to energy and employment costs.

Tim Martin: ‘Pubs won’t retain their historic role in British social life without equality’

Sir Tim Martin has warned UK pubs face long term decline unless the sector unites behind a single demand for tax equality with supermarkets, arguing that weaker calls for Government support have failed to halt the erosion of the on trade.

Kerridge raises fresh concerns over biz rates as sector costs intensify

Chef and operator Tom Kerridge has warned that rising business rates risk pushing pubs into a “race to the bottom”, saying many sites are now operating at “about 110% costs”.

Night-time economy warns of ‘accelerating decline’ as clubs miss out on rates relief

The Night Time Industries Association (NTIA) has criticised the Government after nightclubs, grassroots electronic music venues and recorded music spaces were excluded from the latest business rates relief package.

Operators say moderation trends will soften hit from lower drink drive limit

Pubcos say the Government’s proposed drink drive limit reduction is more likely to accelerate existing moderation trends than fundamentally reshape customer behaviour.

Pressure mounts in Wales and Scotland for swift action on biz rates

Regional leaders of trade body UKHospitality (UKH) have called for swift action on the distribution of business rates support.

Licensing Hours Extensions Bill moves to Royal Assent

Legislation designed to make it quicker and easier for the Government to extend pub opening hours during moments of national significance has cleared its final parliamentary hurdle.

Scottish pub closure rate 50% higher than England

Pubs in Scotland are suffering a closure rate more than 50% higher than those in England, new research has found.

OPINION

OPINION: This is not a ‘bail out’

While there will be plenty in the industry that welcome the Government U-turn, let’s be candid about this - this isn’t “support”, it’s the Treasury moving to fix the problems of its own creation.

Rates relief ‘welcome first step’ but not a long-term solution

Pub operators say the Government’s biz rates intervention will ease immediate pressure, but caution that without permanent reform the sector will continue to face tough decisions.

Gov announces business rates relief and valuation review for pubs

The Government has unveiled a new support package for pubs in England, including a 15% cut to new business rates bills from April, followed by a two year real terms freeze, alongside a review into how pubs are valued for business rates.

Butcombe COO urges Chancellor to recognise ‘extraordinary value’ of pubs

Butcombe Group’s chief operating officer Jayson Perfect has urged Chancellor Rachel Reeves to rethink how pubs are taxed and regulated, warning that current policy fails to reflect their economic, cultural and social importance.

Government lines up £100m support package for pubs

The Government is preparing to deliver a £100m a year support package for pubs, following a sharp backlash over soaring business rates and mounting warnings of closures and job losses.

Scottish pubs to be hit with 86% biz rates increase

The average pub in Scotland will see its business rates bill rise by £36,523 across the next three years, new research from UKHospitality (UKH) has found.

Reeves expected to opt for temporary pub support as sector awaits clarity

Chancellor Rachel Reeves is expected to reject permanent biz rates reform when she unveils the Government’s support package for pubs tomorrow (27 January).

Former operator challenges VOA evidence on pub biz rates methodology

A former multi-site pub operator has accused the Valuation Office Agency of giving a misleading picture of how pub business rates are set, warning the current system effectively taxes turnover rather than property and penalises pubs that rebuild trade.

OPINION: Clock is ticking on rates support

The comments by the Chancellor out in Davos, rather than back in the UK fixing her own messes, that the “situation the pubs face is different from other parts of hospitality” should concern us all.

Starmer challenged over ‘tax attack’ on pubs during PMQs

Prime Minister Keir Starmer faced criticism in the Commons yesterday (21 January) after being pressed to justify what was described as a “2000% tax attack” on a rural pub facing steep business rates rises.

SBPA welcomes 3am pubs extension for World Cup in Aberdeen

Hospitality sites in Aberdeen are celebrating after the city’s licensing board granted a blanket 3am extension for the entirety of the football World Cup this summer.

Hospitality sector sees almost 9,000 jobs cut in month after Budget

Almost 9,000 jobs were lost across hospitality in December 2025 as rising employment costs and the employer NICs increase continued to take hold, according to the latest ONS labour market data.

Pubs under pressure: Tackling the challenges of 2026

With some serious challenges facing the pub sector in 2026, the Lock In team tackle some of the issues and consider what campaigning is going to work in the year ahead.

PCA’s Annual Tied Tenant Survey launches

The pubs code adjudicator (PCA) has called on tied tenants who are invited to take part in its survey to share their views.

Most consumers say only waiting staff deserve tips

The majority of UK consumers believe tips should go to waiting staff only, underscoring the weight diners place on front of house service at a time when operators are under pressure to automate parts of the customer journey.

Badenoch takes aim at PM over biz rates U-turn

The Government’s U-turn on business rates has prompted fresh criticism from the leader of the opposition and Labour backbenchers.

Reeves signals broader hospitality support as pressure mounts over business rates

Chancellor Rachel Reeves has opened the door to wider business rates support, following criticism that the Government’s proposed intervention risks helping pubs alone.

Pubs slam Gov ‘ignorance’ on sector policy

Operators have hit out at Government ‘ignorance’, with constant policy U-turns and a lack of sector knowledge adding further pressure to hospitality businesses.

Remember when Government actually valued pubs?

Once upon a time, pubs were so culturally significant the Government even decided it needed to nationalise them.

Trade bodies say Scottish Budget falls short in helping sector

UKHospitality Scotland has claimed changes made to business rates in the Scottish Budget “bear no relation to the trading environment” facing hospitality businesses.

Government ‘did not have access’ to full picture on rates ahead of Budget, says business secretary

Business secretary Peter Kyle has insisted the Government did not see the full set of new rateable values before announcing its Autumn Budget.

Rates review must include pubs with rooms and hotels, says RedCat CEO

RedCat Hospitality chief executive Richard Lewis has warned that any Government intervention on business rates must extend beyond pubs to include the wider accommodation sector.

Sector faces over 2,000 closures in 2026 without urgent rates reform, UKH warns

More than 2,000 hospitality venues could shut their doors in 2026 without a sector wide solution to business rates, new modelling from UKHospitality has revealed.

Clarkson’s biz rates to almost double at the Farmer’s Dog pub

Jeremy Clarkson has issued a strongly worded warning over the future of pubs, arguing that a combination of tax rises, regulatory reform and economic pressure is pushing the sector “towards collapse”.

BII welcomes biz rates U-turn but blasts Gov over ‘lack of understanding’

The British Institute of Innkeeping (BII) has welcomed a potential rethink on business rates for pubs from the Government.

Rates U-turn won’t be enough for sector, trade boss warns

Pessimism remains high over claims the Government is doing a U-turn on rates, with one trade association leader warning it won’t be enough.

Review of the Week

‘We’ve got to carry on pushing’

With the announcement of a possible Government U-turn on rates, the MA’s Ed Bedington caught up with UKHospitality’s Allen Simpson for his take on the week’s events.

Biz rates backtrack: Valuations must be ‘rooted in economic reality’

Pubs aren’t asking for “special treatment” from the Government - but rates valuations must be “rooted in economic reality”, an industry expert has urged.

OPINION

OPINION: Sector needs more than a sticking plaster

Most operators know the most effective way to keep control of potentially unruly punters is to threaten to bar them, and so it would seem it is also the most effective lobbying tool as well.

Time for the Government to be honest about pubs

It’s time for the lying to stop. This Government needs to step up and own the situation it has created and either do something about it, or just be honest and open about the fact they don’t actually give a monkeys about the hospitality industry.

‘We are continuing to work with and talk to sector’ says Starmer

Prime Minister Keir Starmer has claimed the Government is working with the industry on business rates support, he told the House of Commons.

Investment in public transport demanded as drink-drive limit reduction explored

The Night-Time Industries Association (NTIA) has demanded Government investment be made into improving or creating “realistic night-time alternatives” if the drink-drive limit is to be reduced.

Scottish trade bodies demand retention of 40% biz rates relief

Scottish trade associations have joined forces in urging the retention of the 40% business rates relief and remove the £51,000 rateable value cap.

Operators push back on Starmer’s ‘further support’ for pubs

Pub operators have reacted to Sir Keir Starmer’s suggestion that the Government could offer “further support” to hospitality businesses facing sharp increases in business rates, with JDW’s Tim Martin calling for “fairness and tax equality”.

OPINION: We need to fight harder in 2026

And so we came to the end of a challenging and difficult 2025 and now look ahead to the sunny uplands of 2026 where all will be good in the world of pubs.