Vat Club

Trade bodies join forces on VAT campaign

13-Apr-2016 By Emily Sutherland

The Association of Licensed Multiple Retailers (ALMR) and the British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA) have joined forces to fight for a reduction in the level of VAT pubs pay and to highlight the tax burden facing licensees.

JD Wetherspoon pulls out of VAT Club

08-Dec-2015 By James Evison

JD Wetherspoon has pulled out of campaigner Jacques Borel's VAT Club.

Bidvest 3663 joins VAT Club

14-Jan-2015 By Mark Wingett, M&C Report

Leading UK foodservice provider, Bidvest 3663, has become the first major foodservice distributor to join the VAT Club Jacques Borel.

Former ALMR chief executive Nick Bish to assist VAT Club

20-Oct-2014 By Rob Willock

Former Association of Licensed Multiple Retailers (ALMR) chief executive Nick Bish has been drafted in to help boost membership of Jacques Borel’s VAT Club.

Borel: VAT Club members 'would need to sign a pledge in return for tax cut'

01-Oct-2014 By James Wallin

Jacques Borel says “most” of his VAT Club members would sign a contract with Government binding them to re-investing the proceeds from a tax cut.

Tax Equality Day: VAT Club says 51 companies to drop prices by 7.5% today

24-Sep-2014 By James Wallin

Jacques Borel says the tally of companies taking part in Tax Equality Day has risen to 51 and claims pressure is growing on Government to see a VAT cut as the solution to the unemployment “timebomb”.

Brakspear to continue VAT Club support

27-Jun-2014 By John Harrington

Brakspear has pledged to give funding to the VAT Club for the further year.

Family brewers withdraw VAT Club group funding

11-Jun-2014 By Rob Willock

The Independent Family Brewers of Britain (IFBB) will not renew its group funding for the VAT Club when its three-year agreement expires at the end of June – though half of its members will continue to donate independently.

Tim Martin denies 'taxing' Wetherspoon supply chain for VAT campaign

05-Jun-2014 By James Wallin

JD Wetherspoon chairman Tim Martin has denied he is ‘taxing his supply chain’ in order to secure financial support for the VAT Club campaign for tax equity between pubs and supermarkets.

A fine line between genius and madness

04-Jun-2014 By Rob Willock

So Tim Martin is unhappy with the level of support he is getting from the leading trade press (the PMA and M&C Report) for the campaign he increasingly personifies to reduce VAT in the hospitality sector.

Pubs minister says 'no chance' of VAT cut

06-May-2014

Community pubs minister Brandon Lewis has warned there is “no chance” George Osborne will consider reducing VAT.

Tim Martin: Partisan pubco chiefs risk alienating their publicans

03-Mar-2014 By Tim Martin

Winston Churchill famously said that democracy was the worst political system - apart from the alternatives. Say what you like about our politicians, but at least none had a stately Spanish galleon in its own artificial lake, like the former Ukrainian...

Tim Martin: Settling VAT differences over a pint

24-Jan-2014 By By Tim Martin

Tim Martin gives his latest views on a VAT cut and discussions with MP Andrew Griffiths.

VAT Club ‘back on track’, says Borel

16-Jan-2014 By Rob Willock

Jacques Borel’s VAT Club has obtained 24 lobbying appointments with MPs and had responses from a further 55, according to the veteran campaigner.

Borel admits mistakes but vows to continue VAT fight

11-Oct-2013 By Rob Willock

VAT Club campaigner Jacques Borel has admitted making mistakes, but vowed to continue to lead the campaign for a lower rate of VAT for hospitality businesses.

Jacques Borel's VAT Club fined for late VAT payment

10-Oct-2013 By Rob Willock

Jacques Borel’s VAT Club has been fined £9,201 for late payment of VAT.

Our cheerleading for the VAT campaign cannot be unconditional

10-Oct-2013 By Rob Willock

Stop the ride, we want to get off. It is spinning out of control. Today, the Publican’s Morning Advertiser calls for the campaign being funded by our industry via the VAT Club — set up to secure a reduction in VAT for hospitality businesses — to address...

VAT Club looks to accelerate campaign after Treasury knock-back

03-Oct-2013 By Rob Willock

The VAT Club is planning to open an office in London and appoint a deputy to Jacques Borel in an effort to turbo-charge the campaign for a lower rate of VAT on hospitality after the Treasury formally rejected its arguments.

Seeking tax parity with supermarkets

18-Sep-2013 By Tim Martin

JD Wetherspoon chairman Tim Martin corrects some ‘misconceptions’ and lays out the arguments for a cut in VAT for the trade

Andrew Griffiths MP casts fresh doubt over 5% VAT campaign

11-Sep-2013 By Michelle Perrett

With just weeks to go until Chancellor George Osborne’s Autumn Statement, fresh doubts have been cast over the effectiveness of the VAT Club and its prospects of securing a tax reduction for the hospitality sector in next year’s Budget.

Beer group chairman Andrew Griffiths labels VAT cut campaigners as "deluded"

01-May-2013 By Michelle Perrett

The chairman of the All-Party Parliamentary Beer Group Andrew Griffiths has derided VAT-cut campaigners as “deluded”, and embarking on an “exercise in fantasy politics”.