They’re calling it a “15% discount” on business rates for pubs, from 1 April 2026, plus a “real-terms freeze” for the two years after that. The Treasury says it’s worth about £1,650 per average pub, wrapped inside a package billed at more than £80m a year. And yes: if you’re strapped to the gurney, being […]
The latest excuse drifting out of Whitehall is a familiar one, delivered with the weary shrug of a man caught holding the wrong brief: the government did not have the full facts. In this case, the facts concern business rates, and how their latest wheeze would “play out” for hospitality. Apparently, no one could have […]
(Because the Treasury’s best investment comes with a head on it) If the government had an ounce of imagination — or a calculator that worked — it would pay us to open more bars. Yes, really. Give me £300,000 to open a venue that takes £1 million a year, makes 10 % profit, employs twenty […]
I will try not to blame the Chancellor – really, I will but can make no promises. Like every other hospitality business in the country right now, we’ve been grappling with costs that appear to rise as relentlessly as a bad soufflé in a too-hot oven. Food inflation is back over 4%, energy bills refuse […]
I’ve had a 30+ year career in hospitality running my own businesses including cafes, bars, hotels, hostels, pubs, restaurants and wine bars all over the world. I currently own the Cork & Bottle wine bar in Leicester Square, London and have a share in the Belgian Monk beer bar in Norwich. I’m a bit of […]
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