In his Your Local Paper column, MP James Wild calls on the Government to give more support to the hospitality sector…
Pubs are a British institution and the more than 70 in North West Norfolk sit at the heart of their communities.
The best pubs are truly the hub of the village. As well as bringing communities together, along with local breweries including Duration and Brancaster they support 2,300 jobs and generate £53 million for the local economy.
Yet in recent years and especially since the pandemic with energy price shocks and high inflation, these institutions and the wider hospitality sector have faced many challenges.
In parliament I’ve consistently championed our pubs and venues including lobbying for lower business rates, energy support schemes that work for smaller businesses, and calling successful for a lower VAT rate albeit temporarily.
I was pleased to speak up for them again in a recent debate in the House of Commons. Under the last Conservative government a new Draught Relief was introduced to help level the playing field for pubs facing competition from supermarkets by cutting the rate of tax on beer sold in pubs.
Along with small producer relief for breweries these measures were welcomed by the British Beer and Pub Association.
Disappointingly, in the Budget last year that relief was cut from 54p to 53p – a saving of just 1p – on a 4.5 per cent strength beer. With the average price of a pint breaking £5 that is small beer for the sector.
The closure of a local pub leaves a gap far beyond simply job losses in communities. So I was pleased to return to one of my favourites the Rose and Crown in Harpley a few weeks ago as it reopened.
New owners have taken on the Lattice House in Lynn which was busy when I popped in. And after kayaking at Burham Overy Staithe recently, I took the opportunity to go to the newly reopened Ship in Brancaster too and enjoyed local shellfish as well as the beachy decor.
The tenacity and innovation of people running pubs and venues should not be underestimated. However, talking to the new team in Harpley who have pubs across Norfolk, it was obvious how difficult the national insurance increase has been and the negative impact it has had on jobs.
Recent figures from UK Hospitality underlined this showing since the autumn Budget, 69,000 jobs have been lost in hospitality, compared with the previous period where 18,000 jobs were added.
Businesses are now concerned about what will come in the autumn Budget, given the hole that has emerged in the chancellor’s spending plans. In the debate in parliament, I encouraged the Treasury minister to make his way to the Dog and Duck to get a reality check.
If he did he would hear loud and clear how tough things are for pubs and brewers; how the increases in national insurance, wage costs and business rates mean a third of venues are running at a loss; and the need for the Government to change course.
Otherwise, spiralling costs risk undermining the great British institution of the local pub. Rather than loading on more and more costs, the Government should be supporting pubs and the wider hospitality sector which provides so many opportunities.
As I said in the debate, if the minister did that we will all buy him a pint.
