Night Time Industries Association chair Sacha Lord has called for a reduction in VAT and a reversal of increased employer National Insurance contributions, warning that UK pubs are facing increasingly squeezed profit margins.

In a LinkedIn post, Lord claimed that pubs can now make as little as 3p profit for every £1 spent on a pint, compared with 5p last year and 7p two years ago.

Highlighting the growing disparity between the price customers pay and the profits retained by operators, he asked: “Why are you paying so much for a pint when the pub is making so little?”

“We need a VAT cut and we need a reversal of the National Insurance increase,” Lord added.

His comments prompted support from industry figures, with Millfield Estates MD John Farnworth calling for alcohol duty reductions for pubs and clubs, offset by higher duties on retail sales.

Mark Wrigley, director of mobile-bar company Green Ink, warned that rising costs were encouraging consumers to abandon pub visits in favour of cheaper supermarket alternatives.

“We are at a tipping point,” he said, arguing that reduced spending in pubs and restaurants could ultimately diminish Treasury VAT receipts as customers increasingly choose to stay at home.