29/07/2026
The average pub in England will save approximately £21 per week on business rates following Andy Burnham’s 20% reduction.
Thanks Andy.
Why does it already feel like Andy Burnham is side stepping the real issue facing hospitality with a business rates distraction? Probably because a 10% VAT cut will cost in the region of £10-£12.5 billion, and reward big players like McDonalds by around £400m, in one fell swoop.
The reality is that UK Hospitality has seen more than 16,000 closures since 2020, a contraction of £1.28 billion per year - and that’s without counting the broader tax multiplier of PAYE, National Insurance and supply chain VAT - those businesses who used to support the open venues.
Approximately 16% of ‘all’ remaining UK venues report that they are no longer financially viable. Another 11,000 venues are projected to be no longer in operation over the next 5 years.
That means the government will have permanently lost 25% of its entire pre-pandemic hospitality footprint. That’s an estimated £2.16 billion per year.
By way of comparison, Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Aldi, who slash alcohol prices and negatively impact drinking in isolation, announced combined operating profits of over £4.5 billion last fiscal year, and only pay 3-6% VAT. Where’s the problem here?
How can Andy Burnham afford not to reduce VAT for hospitality to 10% and claw back the money by hitting the retailers selling discount alcohol?
