Pubs plea for support amid '80-hour working weeks'

Two publicans have called for more support for their businesses and say they have been working up to 80 hours a week to keep their doors open.

Oxfordshire pub managers Becky Sumner and Donna Byrom said factors including VAT on food, rising wholesale costs and increased National Insurance contributions were making it harder to turn a profit and pay themselves a wage.

They said people were also reducing the number of times they visited pubs.

The government said it was "slashing red tape" and providing "more funding to support rural pubs".

Both publicans said they had found the Christmas period was different to previous years.

Ms Sumner, who owns the Red Lion in Eynsham, said: "We haven't seen so many big parties and big bookings."

She said she would face higher bills in the New Year and costs had gone up "astronomically".

Her pub's rateable value - the official estimate of its annual rental value used to calculate business rates - is currently £19,250. From April, it will rise to £42,000, significantly increasing her business rates bill.

At the Oxfordshire Yeoman in Freeland, it is a similar story.

General manager Ms Byrom said it had been "hard to make a profit out of anything this year".

"I'm finding myself working 80 hours a week – I'm just having to get my head down and get on with it because you have to keep the doors open and give the customers what they expect and need," she said.

Ms Sumner agreed and said: "People are having to pick and choose when they come out and reduce the amount of times that they're coming to their local pub."

As part of their bid for more support, they were invited to Westminster to speak to business minister Kate Dearden and the Liberal Democrat MP for Bicester and Woodstock Calum Miller.

Following the meeting, Dearden said: "Pubs are essential parts of our communities and vital to our economy. Running them takes hard work and dedication.

"We know that pubs need our support to deliver and we've begun that work by capping business rates for most properties at 15%, when they were facing a 45% hike.

"At the Budget we made the decision to ask online giants and the wealthiest properties to pay more, so local pubs and communities get the backing they deserve."

For now, Ms Byrom and Ms Sumner are asking people to support their local pub, wherever they live.

"We want to stay open – the pub is the hub of the community, it's what we do", Ms Sumner said.

"But we just can't do it if we're not getting any support. All we're doing is getting hammered from every corner with costs rising all the time.

"If you're out there [with] your village pubs, come along – even if it's just now and again.

"We're not just for Christmas, we're all year round."

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