The boss of All Bar One owner Mitchells & Butlers has accused Rachel Reeves of being ‘disingenuous’ over business rates after it emerged pubs face a near-£13,000 jump in their bills.
The Chancellor on Wednesday said she would ‘introduce permanently lower tax rates’ for more than 750,000 retail, hospitality and leisure properties.
She claimed it would be ‘the lowest tax rates since 1991’.
But thousands of pubs and restaurants are now on the brink after it emerged their business rates bill will in fact rise.
‘Disingenuous’: Rachel Reeves said she would ‘introduce permanently lower tax rates’ for more than 750,000 retail, hospitality and leisure properties
Figures from UK Hospitality show that the average pub’s business rates will increase by an ‘eye-watering’ £1,400 next year. M&B chief executive Phil Urban said it was ‘slightly disingenuous that she called out hospitality and retail as her being supportive [of], when the reality for some is business rates will jump’.
Kate Nicholls, boss of trade body UK Hospitality, said: ‘The Government promised in its manifesto that it would level the playing field between the High Street and online giants. The plan in the Budget to achieve this is quickly unravelling.’
Publicans were shocked to discover after the Budget that their bills will go up and not down. This is because small businesses will see just a 5p cut to their ‘multiplier’ that calculates the bill – a far cry from the 20p that had been called for.
After an initial 15 per cent increase next year, the average pub will see bills continue to rise each year – and by 2029 they will have risen by 76 per cent, or £12,900.
The bill for a distribution warehouse – as used by online giants such as Amazon – will have only increased by 16 per cent by 2029.
It came as M&B, whose pub chain brands also include Harvester, said it would have to foot an extra £130m hit on costs. These include wage increases announced at this week’s Budget as well as rising food prices.
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