The government is preparing a bailout for pubs - a bailout from the problem they have *just* created!?
This piece was originally shared on LinkedIn in response to recurring conversations with founders and leadership teams around this topic.
I’m publishing it here as part of an ongoing body of thinking around restaurant strategy, market entry, and operational decision-making.
The Times ran a piece last week on Rachel Reeves preparing a business rates bailout for pubs.
Yes, pubs need support, and nobody disputes that.
But the fanciful idea that you can help one area without dealing with the rest of hospitality doesn’t hold up in practice.
How do you even categorise what a pub is vs a bar or restaurant? Does it depend on whether they serve food? What about hotels with pub-style venues inside?
“Pub only” gets messy fast. Some venues get relief, similar venues don’t, bigger groups find ways around it, and independents get squeezed.
For a typical pub, a rates bill that jumps by £10-£15k isn’t a headache, it’s the difference between a small profit and a massive loss.
The frustrating part is how avoidable this was.
The industry warned for months about the impact of revaluations and reduced relief. The Treasury had sectoral data showing what the increases would be. The Valuation Office Agency was "very clear" about the impact before the budget.
Then the policy lands, operators scramble, closures get discussed, and the government has to patch it weeks later.
If we want functioning high streets, we need a sector-wide approach that reflects how hospitality operates.
More importantly, we need a government that doesn't create crises it has to solve weeks later.