Overview

• Official Valuation Office Agency data show 209 pubs were demolished or converted between January and June, averaging eight permanent closures each week
• The closures shrink the pub estate to roughly 38,780 venues in England and Wales and mark a cumulative loss of 2,283 sites since 2020
• Trade bodies attribute the surge to April’s 6.7 percent rise in the national living wage, an increase in employer national insurance and a cut in business-rate relief from 75 to 40 percent
• Analysts at Ryan estimate the reduced rates relief has added about £215 million to the sector’s tax bills, squeezing smaller operators
• The British Beer and Pub Association and other hospitality groups want major reforms to business rates, beer duty and employment levies in the autumn Budget