Business rates to hammer the West End: ‘This whole policy is nuts’ June 16, 2025 A rise in business rates for more expensive properties is set to hammer valuable areas like London’s West End, a leading investment firm has warned. The policy, which aims to bring down business rates for small properties by raising them for large properties, has been slammed as “unlikely to save the high street” and likely [...]
Reeves’ tax hikes force Timothy Taylor to raise price of a pint June 13, 2025 Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ tax hikes have forced brewer Timothy Taylor to raise its prices as it slammed the “hostile fiscal and regulatory environment” it now faces. The family-owned brewer said its industry is facing “significant input and labour cost increases” as well as dealing with the fall in business rates relief. Timothy Taylor added that it [...]
‘A tax burden without precedent in the 21st Century’: Pub chain McMullen’s blasts government tax hikes June 6, 2025 One of Britain’s biggest pub chains has taken aim at the government’s “damaging” tax hikes, warning they will lead to lower demand and investment and have forced the hospitality sector to “bear the brunt” of rises in government spending. Hertford-based McMullen’s, which operates around 120 pubs in London and the home counties, including the Old [...]
Greene King: Pub giant calls for ‘urgent help’ after losing £150m May 19, 2025 Pub giant Greene King has issued an urgent plea to the government for help after slumping to a near-£150m loss in 2024. The Suffolk-headquartered group fell to a pre-tax loss of £147.1m during its latest financial year, having posted a profit of £45.2m in 2023. Greene King, which operates around 2,600 pubs, restaurants and hotels across England, [...]
Government urged to prioritise high streets or risk losing seats to Reform May 19, 2025 A retail lobby group has warned that job losses in the sector could overwhelmingly affect areas at risk of turning from Labour to Reform. The Retail Jobs Alliance (RJA), made up big names like ASDA, Primark, Sainsbury’s and Tesco, found that retail is a major driver of local employment in areas where Reform made significant [...]
Wetherspoon, Marston’s and Young’s manage to fend off UK pubs crisis – for now May 13, 2025 Some of the UK’s biggest pub chains – JD Wetherspoon, Marston’s and Young’s – have all proved surprisingly resilient in avoiding the hospitality crisis predicted last Autumn. The London-listed companies have all reported better-than-expected trading over the last year, despite very low business and consumer confidence. In an update to markets this morning, Marston’s reported [...]
Logistics leaders warn business rates reform could drive up high street prices April 22, 2025 A coalition of logistics professionals and long-term industrial investors has warned that changes to the business rates system risks damaging the British high street by pushing up costs. The group, which includes major investors Segro, Prologis and Tritax Big Box, said that the proposal to apply a higher business rates multiplier to more valuable properties [...]
Welcome to the era of the £6 pint April 11, 2025 The average price of a pint in London is set to hit £6.06, almost £1 over the national average. Our pubs urgently need business rates reform to save jobs and boost growth, says Emma McClarkin British pubs have been hit as hard as any business by the government’s economic policies, and it’s starting to cost [...]
Spring Statement 2025: ‘Missed opportunity’ to avoid hospitality cliff edge March 26, 2025 The UK’s leading hospitality body has slammed the Spring Statement as a ‘missed opportunity’ to solve the mounting crisis in Britain’s pubs and bars. The statement contained no phasing in of higher national insurance contributions (NICs) or extra support for the sector, despite pleas from the industry. “Growth won’t just happen without a plan. Today’s [...]
Will rising costs kill off Savile Row’s renaissance? March 25, 2025 On a Wednesday morning earlier this month, there was plenty of activity on the shop floor at the Georgian townhouse that plays home to Richard James’ bespoke suit-making. One staff member is on the phone discussing colours and time frames, another getting a glass of water for a customer in the changing room, and smartly [...]