Pub owners 'struggling to survive' every month

Pub owners have said they are "struggling to survive" each month despite the government's announcement of a reduction to their business rates bills from April.

Victoria Mavin, who runs runs three pubs across Stoke-on-Trent, said the 15% discount on business rates would impact many pubs "greatly", but still did not solve the problem and more support was needed.

"The issue every single month for most pubs is do we have enough money to open the doors," she said.

The government recently announced a three-year rescue package for pubs, which it said would be worth £1,650 for the average pub in 2026-27.

It follows a backlash by the pub industry against the chancellor's November budget and a rise in business rates, which some pub owners said would lead to mass closures and job losses.

Mavin, who runs The Bellringer, The King's Way and The Ford Green in the local area, said two of her pubs were already below the threshold for rate relief, so the changes would not make a "blind bit of difference".

She said support with energy bills and VAT would make a "real difference" to pubs and their survival.

"I am struggling to survive from one month to the next because the government seem to know that there's an issue but they're actually not addressing what everybody is telling them would make the biggest difference," she said.

The government's support package will also include music venues, but trade body UK Hospitality warned that hotels, restaurants and other businesses were also at risk and said the support package should be widened.

Jenna Holford, landlady of The Blue Bell Inn in Kidsgrove, said she felt "deflated" despite the measures.

"We've gone from paying no business rates as we were under the threshold, to now paying business rates, so it's another tax we've got to pay as well as everything else rising," she BBC Radio Stoke.

"It's becoming increasingly frustrating. We've been calling for help ever since Covid really, just to try and help the industry get back on track."

Holford said she had received "no end" of emails from suppliers saying they would have to put their prices up on beer and spirits, due to the increase in alcohol duty.

"We can't absorb that anymore, it's impossible."

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