Publicans have hopes, but lower expectations, ahead of budget

The Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt will be carrying the red suitcase and taking to the podium at the House of Commons to deliver what could be his final budget as Chancellor before the General Election.

One of the industries hoping for help with costs and other factors is the pub industry, which has suffered in the last year through high energy costs and a rise in rates.

Figures released by the British Beer & Pub Association have shown that around 3,000 pubs have closed in the past six years, with 509 alone closing in 2023, and more have closed over the last few years due to soaring costs.

Ahead of the budget, which the Chancellor will announce at 12,30pm on Wednesday, pub managers, landlords and ladies have been looking at what their hopes would be from Mr Hunt's announcement.

At the Star and Garter in Stafford, landlady Morgan Lodge said she expected to see a rise in line with inflation, but was hopeful the rise wouldn't be too steep.

She said: "I don't expect too much as there isn't really anything you can because of inflation and the beer will always go up.

"You pay for keggage and you pay for the beer and you find that prices go up, but let's hope the rise is within reason."

The co-owner and manager of the Orange Tree in Ettingshall, Kash Rai, said that as a restaurant and bar owner, she was hoping for a lower energy bill.

She said: "We would like to be paying a lot less than we currently are for our energy bills as that's the most painful one right now.

"I'd also like to see a lowering of beer and food prices as well as everything is just sky-high at the moment and while we're just about keeping our heads above water, we could do with help."

The subject of the energy bill was one that the Olde Vicarage in Bilbrook co-owner Andy Evans agreed with, with Mr Evans saying that any reduction would provide some relief, as would support for smaller businesses.

He said: "Our energy bills are quite high and a reduction in the energy prices would be good or even a reduction in beer prices or reduction in taxes to smaller businesses would be a help.

"The government brought in some relief for smaller businesses to give them a chance in the last few years, especially following Covid, but I read about a lot of breweries that are going into administration.

"There's been a lot of closures of pubs and breweries, mostly due to costs such as energy pricing and rental prices, so anything that can help with energy prices is a big one for me."

James Stevens, who runs the Chapel House in Gornal, said he hoped there wouldn't be a massive increase in costs for him for beer and spirits and said that as part of the hospitality industry, it would be good to have some help.

He said: "I'm hoping he'll be merciful with us and we don't see a massive increase in the price of beer and a massive increase in duty on spirits.

"We are facing an increase in prices anyway because the cost of ingredients and products is going up, so it would be nice if that could be recognised and acknowledged when they're considering the budget.

"I think we're important as any industry in the country as we employ people and provide hospitality as much as other industries, so we need that help and sense of optimism to build and get back to where we were five years ago."

At the Keg and Comfort in Oxley, co-owner Louise Clive said she would love to see the cost of beer duty come down and also had another hope that she felt might not be fulfilled by the budget.

She said: "My main hope, but one I just can't see happening, is that they will do something about supermarkets selling beer at a knock-down price.

"My other main one is the cost of energy as VAT doesn't affect me as I already pay the base rate, as will business rates, so it would be lovely to see the cost of energy come down.

"There's always hope of something at budget time, but I just don't know what way he's going to go, plus I feel that they've said that they've helped hospitality and don't particularly want to go any further with us."