Please find below a quote from the BBPA CEO Emma McClarkin following the Chancellor’s budgetary announcements this afternoon – for immediate release.
“The beer and pub sector is committed to serving communities, creating jobs and providing critical economic growth across the country. In order to deliver this we need to see a reduction in the cost of doing business.
“During the election campaign the Chancellor highlighted the importance of supporting Britain’s beer and pub sector when she announced a five-point plan for pubs. Central to that plan was the need to reform the business rates system that currently penalises bricks and mortar business like pubs that pay five times more than their share of turnover. While the Treasury work out the details of how best to implement this critical reform, we need the Chancellor to confirm that the vital 75% relief will be maintained so that one of the core cost components of doing business can be controlled.
“Likewise, to make sure that the price of a pint remains affordable, the Chancellor needs to cut beer duty, especially after the European football championship brought into sharp focus just how much British beer drinkers are been taken advantage of, especially when you consider that British duty rates are twelve times those of Germany or Spain.
“As the Chancellor prepares for her first Budget over the summer, we have also called on her to examine what the optimal VAT rate should be for pubs selling soft drinks and food as part of a fair and sustainable tax and regulatory framework for pubs that both supports economic growth and underpins the social and community value that pubs uniquely provide to local communities.”
Media Contact: Conor Dobbs cdobbs@beerandpub.com
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