The Inspiration for Pub Success Since 1794
Pub operators have urged the Government to remember businesses – not ministers - pay wages as increases to the national minimum wage (NMW) and national living wage (NLW) come into force.
Almost two thirds of businesses fear they could be forced to cut jobs as significant cost increases take effect.
Business rates bills are set to rise sharply from today, with total UK receipts forecast to rise by £3.4bn to £37.1bn in 2026/27 as the new revaluation cycle takes effect.
The importance of professional advice when taking on and running a tied pub has been stressed by the pubs code adjudicator (PCA).
The Government’s proposed holiday tax could shrink GDP, cause thousands of job losses and see the Treasury lost hundreds of millions in tax revenue, one trade body has highlighted.
EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW
The Government must accept profit is “not a dirty word”, but attitudes towards pubs within Parliament are changing, Barons managing director and British Institute of Innkeeping (BII) chair Clive Price has said.
OPINION
The Government seems to be quite keen to fling money at problems at the moment, even if the problems are of their own making.
With major changes to statutory sick pay (SSP) coming into force next month (April), one expert highlighted the impact on operators.
The Valuations Office Agency (VOA) will merge with HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) later this year, the Government has said.
The Employment Rights Act could reduce flexible entry level roles for young people if reforms are implemented poorly, the British Retail Consortium (BRC) has warned.
MA LEADERS CLUB
Hospitality needs to start lobbying now to stop the Government treating the sector as a “cash cow” again before the 2029 business rates revaluations are published.
SPRING STATEMENT 2026
Hospitality leaders have warned Government rhetoric on stability must be matched by urgent action following the Spring Statement.
SPRING STATEMENT 2026
Welcome to The Morning Advertiser’s (The MA) live coverage of the 2026 Spring Statement.
More than a quarter of Britain’s late-night economy has been lost since before the pandemic, with 75,000 jobs disappearing last year alone.
Serious concerns have been raised about the timing and impact of plans to introduce overnight visitor levies in England.
Trade bodies across the sector have weighed in after a Treasury minister suggested hospitality leaders fuelled post-Budget business rates backlash.
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.
Budget confusion has seen an increase in the number of rogue agents targeting pubs, a leading adviser has warned.
OPINION
To mangle the Godfather quote, just when you think you’ve turned a corner, they pull you right back to where you started.
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 have urged the Government to take a proportionate and evidence-led approach to potential changes to England’s drink-drive limit.
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.
Wales’ First Minister Eluned Morgan has announced a 15% business rates discount for pubs, restaurants, cafés and live music venues in Wales.
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.
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.
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”.
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.
Pubcos say the Government’s proposed drink drive limit reduction is more likely to accelerate existing moderation trends than fundamentally reshape customer behaviour.
Regional leaders of trade body UKHospitality (UKH) have called for swift action on the distribution of business rates support.
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.
Pubs in Scotland are suffering a closure rate more than 50% higher than those in England, new research has found.
OPINION
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.
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.
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 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.
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.
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.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves is expected to reject permanent biz rates reform when she unveils the Government’s support package for pubs tomorrow (27 January).
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
The pubs code adjudicator (PCA) has called on tied tenants who are invited to take part in its survey to share their views.
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.
The Government’s U-turn on business rates has prompted fresh criticism from the leader of the opposition and Labour backbenchers.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves has opened the door to wider business rates support, following criticism that the Government’s proposed intervention risks helping pubs alone.
Operators have hit out at Government ‘ignorance’, with constant policy U-turns and a lack of sector knowledge adding further pressure to hospitality businesses.
Once upon a time, pubs were so culturally significant the Government even decided it needed to nationalise them.