Cut to pub business rates 'not enough', owners say
BBCThe 20% cut to business rates for pubs, clubs and live music venues is "not enough to curb the tide", one owner says.
Qualifying businesses in England will benefit from the reduction from April, which the government estimates will save companies about £1,100 next year.
Steve Baxter, landlord of the Grove Tavern in Tunbridge Wells in Kent, said: "I still think, because things are so tight and everything seems to be lumped on us, we're still going to see a lot of pubs closing. It's not enough to curb the tide."
Prime Minister Andy Burnham said: "This is a significant cut to the business rates that pubs and other venues pay. It could make a difference for a number of venues that are struggling."
Baxter said he thought his pub "may just muddle through" the year.
"It depends on how the cost of living goes, how much money people have got," the landlord added.
He said although the change was "good news" and "going to be a help", he wanted to see more cuts.
"It's going to help because it's very tight at the moment but we are, out of all the pubs, one of the smallest in the area so it's not going to actually be a huge amount of money," Baxter explained.
Getty ImagesJason Myers, who runs five pubs across Surrey, says the cut is welcome but more is needed to help the sector.
"[It is] positive that this new government seems to want to engage [with] the hospitality industry, but we've got a way to go I think," he added.
"We've got to get VAT down and we've really got to start tackling some of these headwinds."
Myers said he was looking at opening sites in Paris and Dubai where "it's a much better, level playing field".
Jonny Abrahams, who runs four restaurants cross East and West Sussex, says he is concerned his businesses are not included in the cut.
"It's great to hear of some help, but I guess it's difficult to understand quite what the difference is," he said.
"I'm a local independent business, employ 75 people, customers can come in and just have a drink, they can come in and have a meal, there's not a huge difference with that and the pub down the road that does exactly the same thing."
Abrahams said cost increases during the past three years had been "bonkers".
"My employer's National Insurance alone has doubled effectively and it went up by well over £30,000 a year, and again that's the kind of thing that can make or break a business, and that's just one cost alone," he explained.
'They're really struggling'
Guildford's Liberal Democrat MP Zoe Franklin says the cut is "a really positive first step for businesses".
"I've spoken to a lot of hospitality venues and they're really struggling. People have less money in their pockets," she said.
"This will help, but there's other things that need to be done around income tax.
"All sorts of things need to be dealt with as well, it's a really difficult market."
Burnham said the cut announced on Thursday was a "first step".
"This is, to me, our heritage. It's working-class culture. Once pubs have gone, they don't come back," he added.
