Author: Andy Cullen

January is one of the most difficult times of year in the pub business with reduced customer levels, mainly due to people being a bit skint after Christmas with all the extra spending on gifts and everything else involved with the celebrations. It is being made even worse for the pubs and breweries that supply them now by various campaigns to encourage people to turn their back on the pubs they love, stop drinking and give the money to charity instead! We say instead of dry January, get the new year off to a good start with “Tryanuary” whilst still supporting the pubs, specialist beer shops and breweries that supply them. Why not make an effort to try new beers or beer styles during January? Be that a mild, traditional bitter, Blonde, IPA, Stout, Porter, Barley Wine, Saison, Sour or one of many others, there is plenty to choose from. Wanting to be sensible after Christmas and new year excesses? You could still socialise at the pub and enjoy a session strength beer or a low/no alcohol alternative – or even look out for those pubs and bars with an interesting choice of soft drinks. Another way of enjoying Tryanuary might be to visit pubs you haven’t been to before, there are lots of good ones in our area!

Pulling together to support pubs and clubs Pubs face a huge tax burden, including VAT, excise duties, business rates, corporation tax and other pub-specific costs. In total £12.7bn in taxes are paid across the beer and pubs sector per year. Tax makes up around one third of the cost of a pint sold in a pub. Pubs pay 2.8% of the total amount paid in business rates, but account for only 0.5% of total business turnover. Various relief schemes have been brought in, but these have been time limited and haven’t affected licensees coping with the largest rates increases. The next Government needs to undertake a full review of business rates in England to fix the unfair overpayment by the pub sector permanently. In 2016 the Government introduced a Pubs Code and Adjudicator in England and Wales to govern the relationship between large pub companies and their licensees. This followed many years of CAMRA’s campaigning against the shortterm business practices of large pub companies which led to underinvestment in pubs, pub closures and high prices. The Code is currently under review, and it needs substantial changes to the legislation underpinning it to make it finally deliver for tenants. This includes fixing loopholes that allow pub companies to game the Code and making sure that tenants have access to the same levels of information as their pub companies. The new Government needs to seize the opportunity of the review to make changes to the Pubs Code Regulations to fix the problems with the existing Code. Pulling together to support beer and cider Three consecutive cuts in beer duty from 2013-2015, followed by a freeze in 2016, gave the sector a huge boost. Despite a further freeze in 2018, beer duty in the UK remains much higher than other nearby brewing nations, meaning that brewers are unable to properly invest in their businesses. Should the UK leave the EU, this will present an opportunity for the UK Government to re-balance the tax differential between the on-trade and the off-trade and demonstrate support for the vast majority of consumers who drink responsibly and in social environments. A lower rate of duty for draught beer sold in pubs could be introduced to recognise the social benefits of alcohol being consumed in regulated, social environments. This year the Government introduced a new duty band for cider between 6.9% abv and 7.5% abv in strength. This measure was brought in to target cheap, low cost ‘white’ ciders that are nothing like the natural, high quality and price point product that real cider producers make. The existing duty band should not be widened, and the rate of duty should not be raised above any other across the board duty increases.