Finance bosses urges to extend insurance deadline for Covid claims
Hospitality leaders and lawyers are calling on the Financial Conduct Authority to intervene in the case of Covid business interruption (BI) insurance claims.
Legislation
Half of night-time venues brace for 50% plus business rates rises
Nearly half of UK nightclubs, live music venues and late-night entertainment spaces expect their business rates to rise by 50% or more in 2026.
Badenoch: ‘Labour MPs left with nowhere to drown their sorrows’
Leader of the opposition Kemi Badenoch has slammed the Government’s business rates reforms amid a growing pub ban on Labour MPs.
Pubs face business rates shock as post-pandemic recovery is penalised
Pubs that worked hardest to rebuild trade after the pandemic are now being hit with some of the sharpest business rates increases under the 2026 revaluation.
Alcohol duty: the reality behind the 1p claim
Confusion continues across the pub sector over alcohol duty policy, with operators questioning how Government claims of a 1p per pint cut align with warnings from brewers and wholesalers of rising costs.
OPINION: Sealing the deal – essential pre-tenancy tips for tied tenants
Running a pub is hard work. To succeed, you need to fully understand what you’re signing up to and there are no quick shortcuts.
Clarkson backs pub ban on Labour MPs - except one
Jeremy Clarkson has backed calls to ban Labour MPs from pubs amid mounting anger over business rates, sparing one MP who opposed inheritance tax changes for farmers.
OPINION
OPINION: A little less conversation, a little more action please...
The growing campaign that is seeing pubs posting signs banning Labour MPs is gaining traction and starting to have an impact.
BBPA demands pub-specific biz rates relief to prevent closures
The British Beer & Pub Association (BBPA) has demanded immediate action to support pubs and reduce the business rates burden imposed at the recent Budget.
Gov needs to ‘act now’ on business rates before it’s too late
Governments take what the hospitality industry does for the economy and communities for granted, an industry leader told MPs this week.
The 404: MPs caught in the rates row
After operators across the UK banned Labour MPs from their pubs, The Morning Advertiser (The MA) has rounded up pictures of those caught in backlash.
Luxury retail rates cut sparks anger from hospitality
In a further blow to the Government’s claims of rebalancing taxation and supported small businesses, tax analysts have revealed that luxury retail operations Harrods and Selfridges have been handed a rates cut.
OPINION
OPINION: Incompetent Gov launches job subsidy to tackle its own unemployment issue
Just when you think you’ve seen it all, the Government turns round and does something even more spectacularly idiotic.
Indie brewers claim ‘terrible Budget’ will ‘penalise success’
Two independent brewers, who also operate pubs, have hit out at Rachel Reeves’s Autumn Budget, claiming they will be “punished” and have demanded help from the Government.
Trade bodies react to Government’s £820m youth employment package
The Government has unveiled an £820m package aimed at tackling rising youth unemployment, with thousands of job opportunities and training places to be created in sectors including hospitality, construction and health and social care.
Business rates rise could wipe out ‘Small Business Saturday’ benefit
Small hospitality venues are facing a £318m rise in business rates over the next three years according to new analysis from UKHospitality.
SIBA demands urgent support for sector after biz rates impact unfolds
The Society of Independent Brewers & Associates (SIBA) has taken the Government to task over the reform of business rates and urged immediate support be given.
Two thirds of pubs now unprofitable as Budget ‘rips the heart out of communities’
The British Institute of Innkeeping (BII) has reported a sharp deterioration in pub viability following the Chancellor’s Budget, with new survey data showing only one in three members are currently profitable.
OPINION
Stop the lies - dishonest rates ‘reform’ nothing more than industrial sabotage
Let’s not beat about the bush here, it’s fair to say that this Government seems hell-bent on an extreme mission of gaslighting the industry right now.
Sector left with 13p pint margin under Budget measures
Hospitality businesses would need to sell an extra 29.5m pints every day to cover the higher wage bill created by the Budget, according to new modelling from Access Hospitality.
Business rates: Pubs face 30% rise in draft 2026 rating list
Pubs and bars are among the hardest hit in the draft 2026 rating list, with Colliers reporting that rateable values for the sector have risen by an average of 30%.
St Austell CEO: Budget heaps more cost and pain on a sector that simply cannot bear it
St Austell Brewery’s chief executive Kevin Georgel has warned that the combined impact of the 2024 and 2025 autumn budgets has meant the business “will be forced to significantly scale back our investment plans”.
Pubs face 78% rise in business rates from April 2026
More than 85% of pubs will face higher business rates next April despite Chancellor’s claims the Budget delivered the “lowest taxes since 1991”, new research has shown.
‘We need to keep fighting’
The MA’s Ed Bedington caught up with BII boss Steve Alton to get his reflection on a week which saw what many felt was a Budget betrayal by the Government.
Hospitality welcomes ‘pragmatic’ change to unfair dismissal plans
Hospitality leaders have welcomed a significant shift in the Government’s Employment Rights Bill, after ministers agreed to scale back plans for day one unfair dismissal rights following sector pressure.
AUTUMN BUDGET 2025
Operators condemn ‘anti-business’ Budget
Pubco bosses and operators have slammed Reeves’ “anti-business” Budget, warning more closures and job losses are on the horizon.
Lock In Budget special: ‘It’s like opening the window and howling at the moon!’
The Lock In team, well some of them, take a crack at this week’s budget with a special one off episode.
Pubs face sharp biz rates rises as new support proves ‘far less generous’
Pubs in England are set for steep increases in business rates from next April as the current 40% retail hospitality and leisure (RHL) discount ends and is replaced with a “far less generous” multiplier cut, according to new analysis from global tax firm...
AUTUMN BUDGET 2025
Trade bodies react angrily to Autumn Budget
Trade bodies have vented their anger over the lack of support offered to the sector by Rachel Reeves’ Autumn Budget.
AUTUMN BUDGET 2025
Biz rates revenue set to rise by £3.5bn despite permanent discounts for pubs
Business rates revenue is expected to rise by £3.5bn next year even as permanent discounts for retail hospitality and leisure (RHL) come into force at the 2026 revaluation, according to new analysis from global tax firm Ryan.
AUTUMN BUDGET 2025
What you need to know from the Autumn Budget
Labour Chancellor Rachel Reeves delivered her second Autumn Budget with reforms to business rates being the most significant point of interest for hospitality.
AUTUMN BUDGET 2025
Chancellor ignores calls for VAT support as receipts set to rise
Hospitality operators have been left without any new VAT support in the Autumn Budget, despite repeated calls from pubs and trade bodies for relief to ease rising costs.
AUTUMN BUDGET 2025
Alcohol duty to rise with inflation
Alcohol duty is expected to increase in line with inflation after Chancellor Rachel Reeves did not announce a freeze in the Autumn Budget.
AUTUMN BUDGET 2025
Reeves promises lowest business rates since 1991
Operators have been handed a significant shift to the business rates system as the Chancellor announced permanently lower tax rates for more than 750,000 retail, hospitality and leisure properties as part of the Autumn Budget.
AUTUMN BUDGET 2025
Reeves: Free apprenticeships for under-25s, wage rise confirmed, NICs frozen
Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced free apprenticeships for those aged under 25 in the Autumn Budget.
AUTUMN BUDGET 2025
LIVE BLOG: Autumn Budget 2025
Welcome to The Morning Advertiser’s (The MA) live coverage of the 2025 Autumn Budget.
Treasury confirms NLW and NMW hikes
The Government has confirmed both the National Living Wage (NLW) and the National Minimum Wage (NMW) will rise next year.
AUTUMN BUDGET 2025
Sector unites in plea for tax cuts, rates reform & stability in Budget
Ahead of next week’s Autumn Budget, industry voices have unanimously called for tax reforms, duty cuts and NIC rollback.
SLTA backs calls for late opening to screen World Cup matches
The Scottish Licensed Trade Association (SLTA) is backing the country’s Liberal Democrat leader in demanding pubs and bars be allowed to screen late-night World Cup football.
CAMRA NI anger as chance to revamp licensing system ‘wasted’
The Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) Northern Ireland branch has vented its fury after the country’s communities minister blocked the modernisation of the alcohol licensing system.
What is the soft drinks industry levy and how does it impact pubs?
With recent reports revealing there could be changes to the soft drinks industry levy, also known as a the sugar tax, we’ve taken a look when the levy was introduced and how the sector reacted to it.
Pubs brace for major tax shift as Autumn Budget approaches
Pubs are facing one of the most significant resets to business rates in a generation, with sector leaders warning that the upcoming Autumn Budget could determine whether thousands of venues face higher bills next year.
Nicholls warns Budget could squeeze disposable income
Kate Nicholls has warned that the sector should prepare for further pressure on discretionary spending ahead of a Budget she described as the most unpredictable of her career.
Lib Dems call for 5% VAT cut for pubs
Liberal Democrats deputy leader Daisy Cooper has said a 5% VAT cut for hospitality businesses would have an “immediate effect” on the economy.
35% of pubs face closure without immediate Gov intervention
British Institute of Innkeeping (BII) CEO Steve Alton has written to Chancellor Rachel Reeves ahead of the upcoming Budget, warning that more than a third of UK pubs could close without immediate Government intervention.
‘Blood on high street’ warning as Budget looms
Back hospitality or risk “further blood on the high street” is the stark message for Government from one trade association as the November Budget draws near.
Employment Rights Bill: What pub operators need to know
The Employment Rights Bill, published in October 2024, marks an overhaul of the UK’s employment law framework.
Rates reform cannot act in isolation, warns UKH after Chancellor’s statement
A full package of business rates support is vital for the sector, UKHospitality (UKH) chair Kate Nicholls has warned.
OPINION: Hospitality needs to brace for likely tax-grab budget
I think there’s one thing anyone in business can quite clearly see, with the sad exception of the Chancellor - this isn’t going to be a Budget of growth.
NTIA warns of ‘broken promises’ as pre-Budget tension grows
The NTIA has accused the Government of failing to match public expectations ahead of the Autumn Budget, warning that a “gulf” has opened between what voters see as fair and the decisions being made in Westminster.