Almost 150,000 sign petition calling on government to save pubs

Nearly 150,000 members of the public have signed a petition calling on the government to take action to save the struggling pub sector.

The Long Live the Local campaign is backed by the British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA) and currently has the support of 146,000 people.

The UK’s beer and pub industry provides nearly 940,000 jobs and contributes £26.2b to the economy each year, but it has been hit hard by inflation and government U-turns.

Earlier this month figures from Altus Group revealed around 12 pubs are closing each week due to soaring costs.

The petition has called on the chancellor to reinstate the freeze on alcohol duty and introduce further alcohol duty reforms; reduce business rates for pubs so they are more in line with other businesses; and lower VAT for food and drinks sold in pubs.

In October 2021, the former chancellor and current prime minister Rishi Sunak committed to simplifying alcohol duty to help breweries and pubs and criticised the current system for being “outdated, complex and full of historical anomalies”.

Jamie Langrish, who owns three pubs in and around Stockport, said: “For months now costs have been rising on absolutely everything across my business from key ingredients to energy bills. I’ve had to take some really tough decisions, I’m considering closing the kitchen in one of my pubs, because it’s simply too costly to run and I’ve halted the much-needed refurbishment of another.

“I really want to keep my pubs running for the local communities they serve and provide a warm and welcoming space and experience, but it’s becoming near impossible to run a viable business.

"The energy cap for businesses was a welcome short-term relief but I need assurance for the future that costs are going to go down permanently across the board otherwise running my pubs simply won’t be doable.”

Emma McClarkin, chief executive of the BBPA, added: “Our pubs and brewers are in desperate need of relief. The cost of doing business is completely out of control and whilst we welcomed an intervention on energy it is just one of a myriad of spiralling costs our publicans and brewers are facing.

“We really hope the new [prime minister] and his chancellor will once again step up and show they recognise just how important pubs and breweries are to the lifeblood of this country before it is too late.”

The BBPA represents UK companies which brew over 90% of the beer sold in the UK and own 20,000 pubs between them.

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