Pub industry pays high price

Dec 2 2009 By Andrew Hebden, The Journal

ALCOHOL taxes have long been an easy revenue-raising exercise for chancellors. It’s hardly surprising, therefore, that the licensed trade has been dealt a raw deal recently.

The British Beer and Pub Association reckons "beer taxes" of some 20% have been levied on the industry in the last two years alone.

The effects of this are easily seen in high streets up and down the country, with many towns now boasting as many boarded-up pubs as open ones. In many cases, these closures have had the effect of ripping the heart out of once flourishing communities.

The desecration of the British pub industry is not universal. Today we report on the latest expansion plans of JD Wetherspoon, a company that is to be lauded for its commitment to real ales, and Bob Senior tells of his plans to expand his Utopian chain with new outlets across the North.

But they are bucking the trend and the plight of local pubs up and down the land which don’t have the buying power of a Wetherspoons to fall back on cannot be ignored. The outlook for many is pretty bleak.

The BBPA is hoping that next week’s pre-Budget Report could provide some relief for the embattled sector, but hopes that the 8% duty on beer could be withdrawn seem optimistic.

With the public finances in the state that they are, Alistair Darling is not going to be in the mood for handing out early Christmas presents unless he can be guaranteed a return at the ballot box come next May. So, for as much as most of us enjoy a drink and talk sentimentally about the old boozer we used to frequent, there’s little chance that a cut in taxes is going to provide respite for our pub industry.

A more likely – and favourable – option is that the Government might eventually muster the energy for a fight with the supermarkets in order to put an end to the cheap drink deals that they are now synonymous with.

Scotland is already leading the way by seeking to implement minimum price legislation.

Only by preventing these giant corporations from using alcohol as a loss-leader to drive footfall will we finally be able to make a realistic stab at tackling the social and health problems that cheap drink can bring – while offering a lifeline to our historic pub industry at the same time.

Andrew Hebden is head of business at ncjMedia