Government Throws Pubs a Bone With Two-Year Rates Shield

Pubs and Music Venues Get Rates Freeze in Cost-of-Living Lifeline

Pubs and music venues in England will be given a 15% discount on their business rates bills from April and will not see increases for two years, the government has announced.

There’s nothing in the bank for any other hospitality businesses, and many pubs will still face increased business rates bills despite the discount. After weeks of being told that they would get help this feels

very much like a sticking plaster which is only likely to delay disaster. The pub may just stay open a little longer. Things might not go quite as bad, quite as quickly.

November’s Budget left many facing big increases in their business rates bills, and more than a thousand pubs took action by banning Labour MPs from their bars. The government then promised that help would be coming.

Ian Cass who runs the Forum of British Pubs says: “On a plus side 15% is some help but it barely scratches the surface. The majority of pubs are still left with high rents, the tie, which in many cases inflates the cost of what the pubs sell, the increasingly high cost of utilities and the employee costs increased by this government. Unfortunately for pubs they are in the  hospitality business and there isn’t an AI solution for good pub service so you need skilled people”

According to the government, the package will cost £80m in its first year. The government also promised to review how pubs are valued ahead of the next revaluation of premises in 2029.

Hotels, restaurants and other businesses in the sector are also at risk and want the government to widen support. Small retail, hospitality and leisure businesses which have had discounts since the pandemic, which dropped from 75% to 40% in November, will no longer get that rebate from April. The government had already announced a £4.3bn fund to help businesses as rates relief is phased out.

Despite Tuesday’s announcement of a 15% discount, business rates bills will still be a huge worry for many pubs. The government is planning to allow them and other licensed venues to stay open after midnight when home nations teams play in this summer’s men’s World Cup.  For a hospitality sector whose customers are spending less because they have less to spend, and who have to cover costs of staying open longer, that feels like a slap in the face.