Fewer than one in 10 respondents said their pubs would be profitable after new changes take effect next year.
Pubs to increase price of pint to rise after Rachel Reeves’ Budget (Image: Getty)
British pubs are poised to raise the price of food and drinks after measures announced in the Autumn Budget, Brits have been warned. According to a new landlord survey commissioned by the British Institute of Innkeeping, 90% of the 205 respondents said they would increase drinks prices.
Another 71% said they would increase food prices, 45% planned to cut opening hours, and 41% might cut services. The survey was conducted after Rachel Reeves Autumn Budget, and ahead of a raft of new business rate tax increases next year. A spokesperson said last week’s responses have “just been devastating” compared to previous member surveys.
Fewer than one in 10 respondents said their pubs would be profitable when new changes take effect (Image: Getty)
From April 2026, retail, hospitality and leisure relief will be replaced with two lower business rate multipliers for properties with rateable values below £500,000. The lower tax rates will be funded by a higher multiplier applied to all properties with a rateable value of £500,000 or above.
To help the businesses facing the more significant bill hikes from this measure, the Government will be implementing a ‘Transitional Relief’ to cap the amount that bills increase as part of a £4.3billion support package.
But according to UKHospitality, the move will still see an average pub pay £12,900 more in business rates over three years, with rates climbing by 76%. A firm’s rateable value is based on the cost of renting its property for a year and is used to calculate a business’s rates bill.
Ms Reeves also announced an inflation-linked rise in alcohol duty and another increase in the National Living Wage.
In April, the hourly wage for workers aged 21 and above will increase by 50p to £12.71. Workers aged 18-20 will see an 85p increase to £10.85, while those under 18 and apprentices will receive a 45p raise, bringing their pay to £8 an hour.
Fewer than one in 10 respondents said their pubs would be profitable after the changes take effect next year, down from one in three, the group said.
Phil Thorley, who runs Thorley Taverns in Kent, said he was considering increasing the price of pints at his pub by 5 per cent to offset a £62,000 increase in business rates.
He said: “It just feels like another nail in the coffin of the British pub. It’s setting up a tsunami of costs that are hitting us and are simply impossible to pass on to the consumer.”
Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the number of pubs in the UK has decreased by more than 2,000 to fewer than 39,000, according to Government data released at the end of last year.
A Treasury spokesman said: “We’re protecting pubs, restaurants and cafes with the Budget’s £4.3billion support package. Without this support, pubs would face a 45pc increase in the total bills they pay next year.”
