The BBPA has warned that 378 pubs will close in England, Scotland and Wales this year as a result of rising costs, beer duty and business rates, with the figure potentially representing the loss of 5,600 jobs. Tis no country for old pubs.
The BBPA has warned that pubs across England, Scotland and Wales will close at a rate of more than one per day throughout 2025, as a result of “eye-watering” business rates, energy costs, employment taxes and beer duties.
The latest research suggests 378 pubs will shut their doors before 2026, at a cost of 5,600 jobs, with the BBPA telling ministers it is “not too late” to address the disproportionate taxes levied on the sector.
Perhaps more in hope than expectation, the pub body is putting up a good fight.
“Pubs are trading well but most of the money that goes into the till goes straight back out in bills and taxes,” said CEO Emma McClarkin. “For many it’s impossible to make a profit, which all too often leads to pubs turning off the lights for the last time. However, it’s not too late to change this sad state of affairs.”
“We know government recognises the economic and social value of pubs and we’re not asking for special treatment, we just want the sector’s rich potential unleashed. We’re calling on government to proceed with meaningful business rates reform, mitigate these eye-watering new employment and EPR costs, and cut beer duty.”
The projected number of pub closures this year is significantly up on the 350 that closed in 2024, and would bring the number of pubs that have disappeared from UK towns and villages since the year 2000 to more than 15,000.
Business rates were identified by the BBPA as one of the hardest outgoings to bear, alongside high beer duty and the recent increases in Employer NICs, as well as new Extended Producer Responsibility obligations costing the sector £60m annually.
The announcement comes as hospitality bosses presented their case to a select committee hearing on energy costs last week, with David Wigham, the commercial director of Admiral Taverns, telling MPs that “energy costs were still up to double the level before the energy crisis unleashed by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine,” according to the Guardian.
“Paul Wilson, the policy director for the Federation of Small Businesses, said hospitality was particularly vulnerable to high energy bills due to customers’ resistance to higher prices; low levels of energy efficiency across the sector; and a lack of cash reserves after the Covid pandemic.
The plight, and flight, of British pubs is going to hammer another nail in the high street coffin. But unlike the banks, for example, who have stuck their middle finger up at the UK high street, the pubs desperately want to be part of the town centre and local economy regeneration.
But it’s not just the government at fault here – it’s the woeful absence of joined up thinking – actually any thinking – by the local authorities. Not content with killing off 350 pubs this year through debilitating levels of business rates, councils such as Barnet, Brent and Peterborough,plus the bandwagon chasing mayors in Manchester and London, are looking to drive gaming centres off the high street as well.
For a government spouting off about growth all the time and local councillors talking big about protecting their communities, it’s their actions that matter: and both have economic blood on thur hands. The decline and demise of the high street is not just on their watch – it’s by their hand.
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Emma McClarkin said… “For many it’s impossible to make a profit, which all too often leads to pubs turning off the lights for the last time…
