Pub landlords bar Labour MPs in business rates protest

A number of pubs up and down the country have chosen to ban Labour MPs from their venues in response to the government’s Budget.

 

Reports have seen signs outside pubs barring Labour MPs with the #taxedout slogan.

 

The campaign, which originated at the Larder House pub in Bournemouth, is urging the government to backtrack on rising business rates for hospitality operators.

 

James Fowler, owner of the Larder House  called the changes a “devastating blow”. Commenting on Instagram earlier this week, he said: “We are now all rather annoyed and very concerned – not just for our own businesses but those across the whole country. We feel we are just being ignored!

“We’ve kept going on about pressures coming out of Covid, energy price increases, lack of equality compared to Europe with VAT and payroll increases. In the latest Budget we’ve been hit with a sneaky increase in business rates which even chatting to traders today they are unaware of. It’s too much now – we are simply being taxed out!

 

“Growth is not possible, we are not incentivised to recruit or train – it’s too expensive. We’ve been holding on for too long and until it’s taken seriously we don’t welcome any Labour MPs into our venues.”

 

Andy Lennox, owner and MD of the Fired Up Collective which operates three pubs and three restaurants in and around Dorset, is now working with Fowler to champion the campaign.

 

“We estimate around 150 pubs around the country have the signs,” he said, having printed around 400 stickers to hand out to operators.

 

Lennox, who started a triage network in Covid called the Wonky Table, has reactivated the group to start campaigning once more.

 

“One of my pubs, the Old Thatch is Dorset’s best pub having won pub of the year, I employ 200 people and turnover is good – we’re not in a bad place, but we’re just not making any money,” he said, explaining how his rates are set to increase 126% by 2028.

 

“We took £1.5m last year and made £50,000 – what’s the point?”

 

Speaking to The Caterer, he said his sites are busy, with 4,500 covers booked in for the Christmas period. “That’s the frustrating part – we can’t make any money out of it.”

 

During last month’s Budget, Chancellor Rachel Reeves branded the policy change as a win for the sector, having pledged to introduce the lowest permanent business rates since 1991 for more than 750,000 small retail, hospitality and leisure (RHL) businesses.

 

But despite a small cut to the multiplier used to calculate business rates, it has become clear that for many operators their bills will increase.

 

Pubs, along with hotels, set to bear the brunt of these hikes. UKHospitality warned the average pub’s business rates bills will increase by £1,400 (15%) next year – even with the reduced multiplier and transitional relief in mind. 

 

By 2027/28, the rates bill for an average pub will be £4,500 higher than today, while in 2028/29 it will be £7,000 higher. It means that in total, over the next three years, an average pub will pay an extra £12,900, roughly equivalent to a 76% increase in its business rates bill. 

 

The anger felt by publicans has spread through the industry once operators realised the extent of the impact. Speaking to The Caterer last week, Heath Ball, publican and owner of the Red Lion & Sun and the Angel Inn in London’s Highgate, said the 5p reduction introduced by the government was a “cruel joke”.

 

“The hospitality sector has been gaslit. We were promised a reform in business rates and they lied. How can a pub in Northamptonshire be paying more than an Amazon warehouse in Northamptonshire?” he said.

 

Meanwhile, Greene King’s chief executive said yesterday that changes to business rates in last month’s Budget have “left many publicans despairing”, pointing to one pub, the Anchor near Leighton Buzzard which is the last pub in the village, which will see its rateable value jump from £10,500 in 2023 to £70,000 in 2026; a 566.67% increase.