Pubs find rising costs are hard to swallow

Rising costs are now a becoming a crisis for the pub trade, says Sue Webber

Last week’s glorious weather brought out the crowds to our parks, and the tables and chairs which have sprung up outside pubs were put to good use as people enjoyed a chat over a drink as they basked in the sunshine. Roll on summer.

Hopefully it gave bars much needed revenue because like so many sectors, they are feeling another kind of heat, from rising costs which were challenging before but are now a becoming a crisis thanks to decisions taken by the UK Labour Government.

The double whammy of Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ rise in employers’ National Insurance and the minimum wage has put many pubs on the brink of closure, and according to the Scottish Beer & Pub Association (SBPA) the price of a pint will need to increase by at least 21p to maintain margins. And if they don’t, they will actually lose nine pence for every pint they sell.

Even the big chains will find that hard to swallow, as it were, but for the remaining small independents it’s crippling. And the sector is braced for the Scottish Government clamp down on alcohol adverting.

There are things the SNP can do, like leave pubs out of legislation designed to reduce excessive alcohol consumption, because they are not the problem. They can also ease the burden of business rates so Scottish businesses are not at permanent disadvantage compared with the rest of the UK. Habits are changing, and so too should attitudes towards businesses at the heart of so many communities.

Sue Webber is a Scottish Conservative MSP for Lothian