Derbyshire pub owners slam budget as “another attack” on hospitality businesses - warning that industry is becoming “unsustainable”

Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced her latest Budget last week - which has been met with widespread condemnation from pub owners and landlords across Chesterfield, Derbyshire and the Peak District.

Rob Hattersley is founder and managing director of Longbow Venues, which currently operate six hospitality sites across the Peak District, including The Maynard in Grindleford, The George in Hathersage and The Peacock at Rowsley.

He discovered that the rateable value on one of his pubs has surged from £49,000 to £205,000 - a 318 per cent increase - as Labour’s business rates changes have come under fire.

Business rates are tax on commercial properties, calculated by combining the value of the property (as assessed by a Government agency every three years) with a national ‘multiplier’ established by the Treasury.

Small businesses were given business rates relief of 75% to support them during the Covid-19 pandemic - which was cut to 40% last year. It was hoped that the Chancellor would end the remaining relief and reform the business rates system to compensate for that drop, transferring the tax burden onto major international companies like Amazon with large amounts of warehouse space.

The Government had the power to implement a 20p discount for small businesses, but instead announced a 5p drop. This, combined with the fact that some pub landlords have also seen an increase in the Government-assessed value of their property, has eradicated any discount - leaving a number of owners paying more in business rates than they were previously.

Rob warned that rural destinations, which rely heavily on small, independent businesses, will be hit hardest by the Budget. He is calling for immediate action, including reformed business rates system and targeted support for both rural and seasonal operators.

He said: “I thought the Government was helping hospitality out on business rates. A 318 per cent increase is nothing short of another attack on businesses that simply cannot absorb these costs.

“Hospitality has been absorbing hit after hit - rising wages, rising energy, rising duty, rising tax - all while guests are spending less. This budget feels like a stab in the back for an industry that employs millions and keeps local communities alive.

“Places like the Peak District rely on independent hotels, pubs and restaurants to provide jobs, bring in visitors and support local producers. If these businesses cannot survive the next wave of cost increases, it will hit entire communities.

“The Chancellor said she wished to support entrepreneurs and small businesses. Right now, what we are seeing is the opposite. Independent pubs and restaurants are being priced out of existence. Hospitality does not want handouts. We want a fair playing field. Without immediate action, the closures already happening across the country will only accelerate.”

Jamie Rawson is the owner of The Anchor at Brampton - and has worked at venues across Chesterfield since he was 15 years old.

He was left frustrated after a VAT reduction for pubs had not materialised in the Budget, and also shared his concerns over the financial impact of the national minimum wage increase.

Jamie said: “We were hoping for some kind of potential VAT reduction, or anything to support hospitality at all. Unsurprisingly, we’ve had no support at all - but I don’t think anyone has had any major support.

“We’ve already been struggling after Covid, and then you have the national minimum wage increase. We’d all love to pay our staff so much more, hospitality staff are some of the hardest workers across the country - but that’s another 50p an hour that we need to find on top of multiple other increases.

“I’ve been in this industry since I was 15 years old. I’ve worked across Chesterfield in bars, restaurants and hotels, and I still know a lot of people in the industry - and everyone is all saying the exact same thing. From the town centre up to the Peak District, no one is as busy as they were three years ago.”

Jamie expressed his fear that, with costs continuing to rise, the industry was becoming unsustainable for pub landlords and owners - leading to job losses further down the line.

He said: “The new business rate system for hospitality will increase our rates across the board. We’ve got the alcohol duty increase and the personal tax threshold has been frozen - which takes money out of everyone else’s pockets. We are normally one of the first luxuries that disappears if a family’s income lowers or they enter a higher tax bracket.

“The industry is fast becoming unsustainable. By the middle of the year, the average price of a pint will be around £6, when three years ago it was around £4. It’s a huge increase, and when everyone’s belts tighten, I don’t know what the Government expects hospitality to look like over the next five or ten years.

“It’s such a shame. Historically we’re a pub-filled country, people associate England and the UK with pubs. In the UK, we’re now disappearing daily, and it’s such an important part of our heritage. We also used to be the second, if not the largest, employment sector for young people - and even that is now dwindling away.

“The ripple effect of how many job losses will come from hospitality slowly winding down is insane. We’ve got greengrocers, butchers, bakers, delivery people, packaging manufacturers - everything that comes to a pub creates a job and as that slows down, these jobs will disappear.”

Jamie added that he felt the Budget could have offered more support to the hospitality industry.

He said: “If they gave hospitality any kind of lifeline and encouraged people to come out more and spend a little more, the repercussions would be positive rather than negative. As a business owner I have no faith in Labour whatsoever.

“Footfall is dropping by the month and it’s terrifying for us all. For a Government claiming to support small businesses and encourage employment, they’re doing the exact opposite. I can’t employ more people in this climate, I just have to work more hours.

“Toby Perkins, despite the national backlash towards the Budget, has supported it on his social media. The news about the local miners is fantastic for them - they’re a part of our national history and heritage, and they’re of huge importance to us locally as well. Apart from that, the budget has upset every other local business and national business.”

Rory Wallin runs The Blue Stoops at Walton and The Crispin at Ashover - and has recently opened Rhubarb131 on Chatsworth Road. He echoed calls for a VAT reduction to help support hospitality businesses - with pubs also set to suffer amid raised prices from their suppliers.

He said: “Minimum wage is going up again, which always has an effect on us. That’s going to be doubled with the freeze on tax threshold, so people will be paying more in tax as well.

“Our customers are going to be paying more in tax and we’ll also get squeezed at the other end as well from our suppliers, as their prices are going to go up. We won’t be making as much on a pint of beer, because we don’t want to raise our prices too much and put people off from coming in.

“We were hoping for a VAT reduction like we got during Covid. We were running The George in Tideswell at the time, and that had helped us tremendously. Even for a small business like this, our VAT bill is crazy.”

Toby Perkins, MP for Chesterfield, stressed that the Government is committed to supporting pubs and other hospitality businesses. He highlighted several measures that he felt would help - with the chancellor maintaining her cut to alcohol duty on draught pints (amounting roughly to a one pence saving for customers).

He said: “Pubs, restaurants and cafés are vital to our communities, and that’s why I welcome the Budget’s £4.3 billion support package for the hospitality sector. Whilst I know that some pubs are still finding it tight at the moment, the government is doing all they can to support this important trade. By capping bill rises, a typical independent pub will pay around £4,800 less next year than they otherwise would have.

“This support builds on steps the government has already taken, including cutting licensing costs to make it easier for venues to offer pavement seating and al fresco dining, maintaining the cut to alcohol duty on draught pints, and capping corporation tax to help small businesses plan and invest.

“Labour is committed to backing our high streets and local employers. The introduction of permanently lower tax rates for 750,000 retail and hospitality properties will make a tangible difference, with around 1,400 business properties here in Chesterfield set to benefit.

“Pub landlords should also remember that real wages going up doesn’t just mean a higher wage bill, it means more money in punters’ pockets. Real wage growth, coupled with energy price reductions, minimum wage rises, and the pension increase will all boost the money people have to spend. I encourage those who are able to get out and support our local pubs and hospitality businesses this Christmas.

“If there are local pub landlords who are worried about the trading environment or changes set out by the Chancellor, I would encourage them to get in touch with me and I will happily raise any issues with the Government.”