Campaign for Pubs

We, all UK publicans, are writing to you to implore you to understand the situation we, our staff and our families are now in as a direct result of the Government imposed restrictions on pubs and hospitality – and to urge you to offer meaningful support to compensate for the loss of trade, income and livelihoods that the Government restrictions will cause.

We are dismayed at the way you have ignored the needs of pubs, publicans, staff and our families in your statement.

Despite many pubs now facing levels of trade that make opening unviable, you provided NOTHING in your statement to help thousands of pubs other than limited help to those that serve food or provide accommodation. This oversight is astonishing considering that the Government so often claims to care about ‘the Great British pub’, but it is also disgraceful, considering that the Government’s own decisions are what have led directly to many pubs being unable to trade viably.

We were already dismayed at the way the Government introduced new restrictions, rather than seeking to ensure compliance with the existing ones. Many of us invested significantly in screens, outdoor areas, increased staff and other measures to ensure safe operation. As it is, many pubs, especially smaller pubs, are now scarcely trading profitably and many are not doing so at all. Many pubs have incurred significant losses and rental debts from the three-month lockdown, and the new restrictions will now reduce trade to a level where many pubs simply will not be viable, without meaningful support.

There seems to be a completely flawed perception that the 10pm curfew somehow means “just one hour less of trading”. This shows a complete lack of understanding of the operation of pubs and the current reality of trade. Many pubs, especially in towns and city centres, are heavily reliant on trade at weekends up to midnight or 1am, and without a busy Friday and Saturday they are instantly unprofitable. The requirement for table service only (which very clearly puts us and our staff at greater risk than service behind a screened bar) also means extra staff are needed.

How, for example, can a characterful wet-led community pub with perhaps different rooms, an upstairs and a garden provide table service with one member of staff? It is impossible now, whereas previously it may well have been the norm for one staff member to supervise the whole site. Staff costs, already the largest cost for any pub alongside property costs (which this Government has also catastrophically failed to effectively address), have now gone through the roof. Yet there was zero acknowledgement of this fact in today’s statement which purported to be all about saving viable jobs. Jobs in these pubs are perfectly viable under normal circumstances, and it is only the Government’s own restrictions which have currently rendered them not so. To not support them now is frankly scandalous.

In all their decision making so far, it seems clear that the Government either doesn’t understand or simply doesn’t care (an increasingly widespread belief amongst publicans) that pubs directly provide the livelihoods of thousands of families up and down the country and sustain the viability of thousands more businesses in their supply chains. There seems to be no consideration at all of the people and families that have been making such an heroic effort to help our precious pubs survive this far through the crisis, some of whom are already facing hardship due to the fact that restricted trade means they are already struggling to make a profit, or in many cases are now not making one at all.

Beyond the immediate threat to jobs and the welfare of publicans and their families, the current policy of this Government risks the failure of many pub businesses and the permanent closure of thousands of pubs, irrevocably changing the face of this country, its villages, towns and cities. A key part of our culture, and an institution that is known and loved all round the world, namely the great British pub, is now under grave threat. Yet you have offered no support and it feels to us that you have actively turned your back on pubs and publicans, leaving them to sink or swim in waters made far more turbulent by the Government’s own policies.

As public-facing, community orientated businesses we are used to being on the “front line” in many respects, and we accept, even at the best of times, that we must carry out our business as safely as possible and under strict regulations. These however are the worst of times, and today’s announcement may well have been the final straw that will simply tip many pubs over the edge – just when we were banking on you and the Government to assist us following the introduction of the recent hotly-debated measures.

The extension to the 5% VAT level helps pubs that do food (and the minority that do accommodation) but does nothing whatsoever to help pubs that do not, many of which are the pubs that cannot operate profitably under the new restrictions. Once again we are seeing a policy choice that does nothing to help thousands of small business pubs, pub tenants and freeholders, yet provides a huge boost to big chains. Why are you supporting corporate chains like McDonalds and KFC and providing no support for the multitude of idiosyncratic small business pubs, the very ones that best embody the iconic institution of the genuine pub, that is so famous and beloved around the world, and also so vital to our villages, towns and cities (including in your own constituency)?

The Job Support scheme may be very helpful for some sectors, but it isn’t any help at all for most pubs. Some pubs have no staff, especially at the moment with trade so reduced, and instead publicans and their families are working every hour to run them all on their own just to survive the current situation. Those with staff are now finding they need even more people working in order to cope with the new measures. A subsidy for non-working staff is absolutely useless to them, they need help with their actual payroll while they provide all this extra employment in return for less revenue. Faced with this reality we are already hearing that for many it will only make sense now to close, either temporarily or permanently, which will obviously spell an end to any associated jobs altogether. This cannot be your intention.

It is cruel to talk about “help for hospitality” or “small business” when the most iconic small business institution of UK hospitality, the pub, is being so ignored and sidelined by the Government. The inescapable impression is that we are now being utterly cut adrift. Most pubs in the country are run by small businesses, often individual families, who serve their community directly from within. The work is relentless, and even under normal circumstances the responsibilities are enormous, while the rewards for most are notoriously paltry. Our communities are at the heart of what we do, our reputation within our communities is of paramount importance to us, and we feel as passionately as anyone about preventing the spread of this virus. We do not think it too much to ask that we get at least some support in doing so.

So we want to know what you are going to do to provide proper support for pubs, to make up for the loss of trade pubs are and will suffer, as a direct result of the deeply questionable Government restrictions and to avoid the otherwise inevitability of pub business failure, closures and loss of livelihoods.

We do know, as a matter of urgency, for the many thousands of beloved wet led pubs that work daily at the heart of our communities, including many beautiful and deeply valued historic pubs, that without Government support will close and could be lost for good. Make no mistake this will not just mean the loss of the small businesses and families that occupy them (as if that is not bad enough) but in a huge number of cases the buildings themselves, if they are allowed to revert to the stewardship of the very many unsympathetic freeholders that currently stand to regain their vacant possession.

We urge you to do the following – if, as you so often claim with your words and photo opportunities, you and the Government genuinely care about our pubs, publicans and their families:

• 5% (or even better zero) VAT on ALL sales in pubs
• Grants to cover full costs if pubs cannot viably trade with the current restrictions and have to close temporarily
• A business rates holiday extension, with a complete overhaul for business rates for pubs prior to recommencing
• A statutory right to an immediate rent review for all pubs, to tackle the fact many pubs are facing wholly unreasonable rent levels, considering the Government restrictions and reduced trade

The simple fact is that in the current situation, many pubs are better off closing due to the restrictions, yet you have announced nothing to help them through this next six months. These are viable, important community business and a fundamental, iconic part of the fabric of our national culture and identity, yet you have ignored them.

So we are urging you to listen to the nation’s publicans – to meet with us and understand that we need urgent support now to get through the next six months. If you ignore us, you and the Government will be responsible for the closure and loss of many important pubs up and down the country, as well as causing loss and hardship for publicans, pub staff and their families.

We look forward to hearing from you – and hopefully meeting with you – as soon as possible.

Yours sincerely,