My children have to work at my pub because I can't afford staff

As the director of his pub in Port Talbot, James Graham has to resort to asking his children to work shifts as he cannot afford to pay for staff.

His financial struggles are not unique, with anxious pub owners across Wales worried upcoming changes to business rates could see thousands of pounds added to their bills.

While the UK government is planning a climbdown to the adjustment in business rates set to come into place in England in April, there are calls by trade bodies for the Welsh government to do the same.

A Welsh government spokesperson said it already provided "substantial rates relief", and that over a quarter of pubs in Wales will pay no rates next year.

According to James, the pub industry has changed a lot in the five years since he took over the keys to the The Tyn Y Twr Tavern in Port Talbot.

"It was open seven days when we bought it five years ago, it went down to six, now it's down to five," he said.

"That's for one reason alone, it's just too expensive to run an empty pub.

"We're running against a tide basically and there doesn't seem to be anyone helping us at the moment, everything is stacked against us."

Not being in a town centre means James and his wife Sharon have tried to keep it a "destination pub" by offering things like food, live music, quiz teams and pool teams.

But it is a a gamble which relies on people turning up and spending enough money.

"My dream was to run this pub with my family but I didn't expect to be asking my 17-year-old children in the middle of their A-levels to be doing shifts for me because I can't afford to actually pay the staff at the moment," said James, who lives with his family at the pub.

"My wife Sharon, she's running the home, she's running the pub, she's doing so many hours and it's taking its toll as well. It takes its toll on your relationship, it takes its toll on your family life. It is just getting harder and harder."

In Cardiff, David Rowlands was the general manager at the North Star pub which served its customers for the last time on New Year's Eve.

He had been working 100-hour weeks as a way to try and save money, by filling in for staff rather than replacing them as they left.

"I didn't have a day off from September until New Year's day," said David, who has worked in hospitality his whole career and fears the rate of pub closures will mean "losing that part of our cultural heritage".

"I think everybody's thinking it's a bit of a storm in a teacup but this is real," he said.

Latest figures from the British Beer and Pub Association showed over 200 pubs closed in Wales between 2019 and 2024.

Wales also lost a bigger proportion of its pubs than England, as 6.6% of its pubs closed over the same period compared to a 4.3% closure rate in England, according to BBPA data.

According to David, while the cheapest pint at his pub would cost £2.10 to put on the bar, and sold to customers for £4.50, the business was "only getting around 15 pence of that".

"I'd genuinely be better off working part-time stacking shelves for the hours and the money that I was getting," he said.

On top of electricity bills costing his pub thousands of pounds, David said while breweries used to raise their prices once a year, they are now doing it multiples times annually.

"You can't tell your regulars that you're putting your prices up more than once a year otherwise there'd be an outrage, so I think there's a lot of combining factors."

For pub owners in Wales, there is fresh concern around changes which are planned to take place in April.

One of those changes is around business rate discounts which have been in force since the pandemic.

In her November Budget, Chancellor Rachel Reeves scaled those discounts from 75% to 40% - and announced that there would be no discount at all from April.

There are also adjustments to what is known as rateable values - a change which could see thousands added to many company's bills.

A firm's rateable value is based on how much it would cost to rent a firm's property for a year, and is used to calculate a business's rates bill.

The UK government, which oversees the rules in England, has already said there will be changes to soften the upcoming business rates bills faced by pubs in England, with an announcement due in the next few days.

It is expected to say it will make changes to how pubs' business rates are calculated, resulting in smaller rises to bills.

But this would not apply in Wales, where business rates are set by the Welsh government.

The British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA) is among those now calling on the Welsh government to follow the UK government's lead and review the planned changes to rates.

Emma McClarkin, CEO of the BBPA, said pub owners across Wales were "already burdened with crushing taxes and business rates, but the proposed changes will place them in an impossible position".

She said pubs would not be able to absorb further costs or pass them onto customers, adding: "It is therefore paramount that the Senedd acts to rebalance the burden and deliver a fairer system for all pubs.

"Without meaningful, pub-specific business rates relief, many pubs will be forced into decisions that threaten not only their survival, but the communities they serve."

David Chapman, executive director of trade body UK Hospitality Wales, said one of its businesses estimated they paid about 17 or 18 different forms of taxation.

"Not only do we serve our local community but there are factors like loneliness, there are factors about connection, meeting with friends, celebration which should not be underestimated," he said.

When you look at your own life, those key moments have tended to be in hotels or in pubs for things like birthdays and marriages."

A Welsh government spokesperson said said it "recognised" the pressure facing pubs in Wales.

They said: "We already provide substantial rates relief and have confirmed an additional £116m in transitional relief to help businesses adjust to the revaluation over the next two years.

"Almost half of all pubs in Wales will continue to benefit from Small Business Rates Relief next year, and over a quarter will pay no rates at all. We have provided more than £1bn in temporary support to retail, leisure, and hospitality businesses since 2020."

Additional reporting by Matthew Bassett