‘People will just drink behind closed doors!’ Landlord fears for future of community pub as profit hits zero

Speaking to GB News, the owner said: "I’m extremely concerned. It’s going to be very, very difficult and very challenging.

"There are going to be lots of price rises coming in, more business rates and all that sort of stuff. I just don’t see how we’re going to cope.

"We’ve signed up for five years. We’re coming up to our first year in business here and, like I said, we’ve not made any money.

"Any money we have made is going straight back into the pub to reinvest and try to get people through the door. But with more price hikes, I just can’t see people being able to come in anymore."

He added: "If we’re not here, people will go to the supermarkets, buy cheap drinks and sit at home.

"There’ll be no social aspect to anything anymore. People need to come out to pubs and socialise.

"As a responsible landlord, if someone has had too much, we can step in and say, “Hang on a minute, you’ve had enough.

"But behind closed doors, people just drink on their own and no one’s keeping an eye on them.

"Mental health suffers. At least in a community pub, you can look out for each other and do something about it."

Research conducted by the British Institute of Innkeeping has found that fewer than one in ten pub landlords anticipate turning a profit in the coming year following measures announced in the Budget.

Approximately 50 establishments throughout Britain have now placed "No Labour MPs" notices in their windows and doorways, refusing to serve Government politicians until their concerns are addressed.

The campaign was initiated last Friday by Andy Lennox, proprietor of the Old Thatch pub in Dorset.

"It's springing up in different towns," Lennox said. "By the end of the week, it will be all over the place."

Requests for protest materials have flooded in from venues as distant as Clacton-on-Sea.

The fury stems from Chancellor Rachel Reeves's Budget, which she claimed delivered "the lowest tax rates since 1991" through a permanent five per cent reduction for hospitality and retail businesses.

However, publicans argue this characterisation is deeply misleading. Pandemic-era relief on business rates, which once stood at 75 per cent, was subsequently reduced to 40 per cent and is now scheduled to expire entirely in April.

Many venues have also been confronted with unexpected increases to their rateable values, compounding the financial pressure.

UK Hospitality, the trade body representing the sector, has issued stark warnings about the trajectory of costs.

The organisation calculates average pub business rates will surge by 76 per cent within the next three years, prompting widespread fears of closures and redundancies.

Rick Cressman, who has banned Labour MPs from the Nailcote Hotel in Warwickshire, was forced to reduce his young workforce by a quarter following last year's Budget.

"Why should we welcome them into our venues when they give us nothing we ask for?" he told reporters.