The head of the British Beer and Pub Association Emma McClarkin has said that as operational costs soar, urgent government intervention is required to stop the most recent spate of permanent pub closures. The great British pub is facing an existential crisis as tax hikes threaten to push record numbers of pubs over the edge. But the Government continues to cock a deaf ‘un.

New numbers released by the British Beer and Pub Association show that on average last year, six pubs per week closed their doors permanently. 

The BBPA said that the net loss to the British pub trade was 289 establishments shuttered in 2024, with a concurrent reduction of 4,500 jobs cut from the payroll. 

The trade association, which speaks on behalf of more than 20,000 publicans, added that this rate of closure would surely increase if the “looming April cliff-edge” of increased operational costs (namely a reduction in business rates relief alongside a minimum wage hike and a lowering of the National Insurance Contribution (NIC) threshold) were to go into effect as planned by the Treasury. 

“The scale of these closures is completely avoidable because pubs are doing a brisk trade,” remarked BBPA chief executive Emma McClarkin. “Consumer demand is there, however, profits are being wiped out with sky high bills and pubs are facing yet more rates and costs come April.”

By means of redress, McClarkin said that government must “urgently bring in meaningful business rates reform” in line with pledges made by the Treasury in the Autumn Budget, whilst simultaneously “phasing in” the new employment costs rather than just slapping them come April 1st. Through these means, she maintained that the pub sector would be able to “keep boosting the economy, supporting local jobs, and remaining at the heart of communities.” 

At present, Covid-era relief measures provide most pubs with a 75 per cent rebate on their payable rates. Under the terms of the most recent Budget, this relief is to shrink to 40 per cent when the new financial year ticks over. 

Throw into the mix the new NIC and wage costing for a decent chunk of all hospitality staff  nationwide, and the BBPA estimates the cumulative damage of the Budget at £650 million in all told for the sector: a blow it claims would amount to kicking it whilst it was down. 

Stats on the long-term health of the pub trade bear this narrative out. Over the last five years, there were more than 2,250 pub closures nationwide: with the total of tall of licensed premises falling from 47,613 at the start of 2019 to 45,345 at the start of 2024.  

Meanwhile, the BBPA claims that for roughly every three pounds spent in a pub, one pound already goes straight into the public coffers.