Reform Our Rates: Over 600 Pubs Call on Chancellor to Modernise Unfair Tax System
- Guild Secretary
- 7 hours ago
- 7 min read
Open letter signed by landlords from across England calls for lower business rates multiplier for pubs to provide “breathing space to invest” and remove “heavy burden”
Publicans are also pushing for fundamental reform so business rates are more fairly linked to profit rather than turnover
It comes after Greene King identified how a simple change at the Budget could unlock tens of millions of pounds to support the country’s pubs
Parliamentary event on 8 September will bring publicans and MPs together to discuss the proposals
1 September 2025 – Landlords of 613 pubs have signed an open letter to the Chancellor urging her to reform business rates to provide “breathing space to invest” in their pubs.
The letter calls for a specific, lower business rates multiplier for all pubs at the Autumn Budget, giving them a 20p discount on their current rate. Across Greene King’s managed pub estate, the move could realise £13.7m in immediate annual savings if introduced at the Budget, or an average of £10,000 per pub.
The publicans, who operate 613 pubs owned by Greene King in all corners of England, argue the discount on business rates would “recognise the unique economic and social value pubs bring to communities across the UK” and “provide immediate relief” to their businesses.
Business rates are set to rise for many pubs next year as a result of upcoming property revaluations and the removal of temporary relief. If the Chancellor does not introduce a lower business rates multiplier, publicans are set to pay thousands of pounds more. Some examples include:
Hayley Pellegrini, Landlord at The Portland Arms, Cambridge who has experienced a £7,000 increase in business rates at the pub this year. She has had to reduce midweek opening hours and fears that hiring part-time staff “may not even be financially viable” soon because of additional employee costs, such as the reduced threshold for employers’ National Insurance Contributions. She is picking up extra hours herself and says that she’s paying herself less than minimum wage for the hours she’s working.
Mark Annear, Landlord at The Cott Inn, Dartington, Devon who has seen his business rates bill jump by 175% from £400 per month in 2024 to £1,100 per month in 2025. Despite previously having won multiple ‘Pub of the Year’ prizes, Mark is struggling to juggle the bills and recently chose not to replace a manager who had departed as he could no longer afford to pay the wages.
Dianne Irving, Landlord at The Crown, Carlisle who has had to cope with her business rates increasing by 140%, up from £536 per month in 2024 to £1,287 per month in 2025.
Longer term, the letter also outlines the need for the Treasury to deliver on its promise of delivering fundamental reform of the business rates system, recommending that the Valuation Office Agency calculate pubs’ rateable values on profitability instead of turnover to “better reflect the realities of running a pub and help ease the burden on the sector.”
Nationally, the 39,989 pubs in England and Wales account for just 0.4% of business turnover but pay 2.1% of the national business rates bill. If taxed proportionately, the pubs sector would pay £130 million instead of the £637 million it currently pays.
Chris Windle, Greene King Pub Partner and Managing Director of My Yorkshire Pubs Limited, said: “In recent years, we’ve seen costs rise on everything across each of our five pubs. We’re a small family-run business and are unable to cope with the increases in wages, energy and food that are stretching our bottom line. Even the price of toilet roll has nearly doubled since before the pandemic and our overhead costs are up almost 20%. This year’s reduction in business rates relief is a final straw that risks breaking the bank for us. We need urgent changes from the Chancellor at the Budget to introduce a lower business rates multiplier and ease the pressure on pubs.”
Nick Mackenzie, CEO of Greene King and Chair of the BBPA, said: “Business rates are one of the biggest barriers to growth in the pub sector, placing a disproportionate burden on businesses of all sizes. The widespread support for these proposals shows the transformative impact that they could have, unlocking investment in every corner of the country. We urge the Chancellor to listen to these calls and deliver a lower multiplier for pubs at the Budget as a step towards the promised long-term reform to fix the system and ensure it fairly represents today’s business realities.”
Some of the landlords that have signed the letter will have the opportunity to meet with MPs to discuss their experiences and the need to change the system at an event hosted by Greene King at Portcullis House in Westminster on Monday 8 September. Greene King has estimated that the two changes it’s proposing to business rates could unlock in excess of £20m a year from Greene King’s 1,500 managed pubs alone.
Notes to Editors
Information on case studies
Hayley Pellegrini, Landlord at The Portland Arms, Cambridge.
First started running The Portland Arms in 2004 and has established it as a famous grassroots music venue. Now runs four pubs across Cambridge.
This year, costs across these pubs have increased by £60,000 as a result of changes announced at the 2024 Autumn Budget.
At the Portland Arms, the business rates bill has increased by £7,000 in 2025.
Hayley has had to reduce midweek opening hours and fears that hiring part-time staff “may not even be financially viable.”
As a result, she is reducing the number of people that she employs and picking up more hours herself for no extra pay, meaning that she is paying herself less than minimum wage for the hours that she works.
Mark Annear, Landlord at The Cott Inn, Dartington, Devon
Regular winner of ‘Pub of the Year’ awards for his 12th Century coaching inn.
Business rates bill has increased from £400 per month to £1,100 per month in 2025.
As an employer of c. 70 people, the changes to employers’ National Insurance Contributions added an extra £67,000 to his wage bill.
Mark is struggling to juggle the bills and recently chose not to replace a manager who had departed as he needed to prioritise paying his bills.
Suppliers who he has been dealing with for 25 years have had to significantly increase prices to cope with food inflation, causing him to have to pay more for his ingredients and review his own prices.
Chris Windle, Managing Director of My Yorkshire Pubs Limited
Landlord of five pubs across Yorkshire:
The Droppingwell, Rotherham
The Banner Cross, Sheffield
The Three Horseshoes, Leeds
The Haynook, Rotherham
The Cross Keys, York
Annual business rates bills have increased significantly in 2025:
The Droppingwell – risen from £4,303.87 to £10,329.30
The Banner Cross – risen from £2,707.07 to £6,496.98
The Three Horseshoes – risen from £5,083.56 to £12,200.55
National Insurance weekly payments have also significantly increased across these pubs:
The Droppingwell – risen by 61%
The Banner Cross – risen by 82% leading to Chris cutting 20 staff hours
The Three Horseshoes – risen by 76% leading to Chris cutting midweek opening hours
Other costs have also increased significantly since 2021:
Food costs are up 20-30%
Energy costs have increased three-fold
Paper Products – Toilet Rolls increased from £21.58 to £37.94, Napkins increased from £21.83 to £40.98
Chris has had to increase some prices to offset prices and change suppliers to reduce limit product costs.
Dianne Irving, Landlord at The Crown, Carlisle
Took over the pub in 2017, winning award for ‘Best Turnaround Pub’ at 2019 Great British Pub Awards.
Business rates increased from £536 per month in 2024 to £1,287 per month in 2025.
Believes that the system is too inflexible and requires overhauling to support the industry.
Greene King’s Policy Recommendations
The publicans are supporting policy recommendations set out by Greene King to reform the business rates system to remove the disproportionate burden that it places on pubs.
The Group’s immediate ask at the Budget is for the Chancellor to use her existing power to introduce the largest possible multiplier discount for pubs - 20p on their current multiplier.
Then for the government to use its longer-term commitment to business rates reform to change how the Valuation Office Agency calculates the rateable value of a pub at the 2026 revaluation so that a pub’s valuation is calculated on profit not turnover.
Other recommendations include:
Making permanent the lower business rates multiplier for all pubs, to recognise the unique role they play in communities.
Maintaining the current three-year window for processing appeals
Valuations are often inaccurate. Pubs - especially smaller operators - need time to challenge errors without racing bureaucracy or relying on costly legal help.
Strengthen improvement relief to include all enhancements, applied at property level and an extended timeframe of relief
Introduced to support investment in pubs, the scheme delays business rates increases for one year after certain property upgrades. But it only covers structural changes and requires the same tenant throughout the works and for a year after - a major barrier in a sector with frequent turnover. To work for pubs, it should apply to all value-adding improvements and be tied to the property not the tenant.
About Greene King:
Greene King is the country’s leading pub company and brewer with c.2,600 pubs, restaurants and hotels across England, Wales and Scotland.
At Greene King we are passionate about delivering our purpose to ‘pour happiness into lives’. That’s for our customers, our team, our pub partners, our suppliers and the communities in which we live, operate and serve. Founded in 1799 with offices in Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk and Burton on Trent in Staffordshire we employ around 40,000 people across the group with three divisions: Greene King pubs, Destination Brands & Ventures, and Brewing & Brands.
Greene King pubs: Greene King pubs is our mainstream pub brand located where people and communities come together; pubs enjoyed in cities, towns and villages throughout the country with clear ambition to be “The Nation’s Most Loved Pub Brand”. Pub Partners runs our tenanted and leased pubs business and Hive and Nest franchise pubs.
Destination Brands & Ventures: Destination Brands is a portfolio of distinct brands which includes Hungry Horse, Chef & Brewer, Farmhouse Inns and Flaming Grill that bring friends and family together, delivering great service, quality and value for money for a range of eating out and drinking occasions. Venture includes Hickory’s, Premium (Crafted Pubs & Metropolitan Pub Company) and Hotels which operate autonomously of Greene King’s managed pub brands.
Brewing & Brands covers the brewing sides of the business. Quality ales are brewed at the Westgate brewery in Bury St Edmunds and the Belhaven Brewery in Dunbar. Our industry-leading portfolio includes Greene King IPA, Old Speckled Hen, Abbot Ale, Ice Breaker and Belhaven Best and our premium beers, Level Head and Flint Eye, brewed for the modern-day drinker.
Contact: Harry Vavasour, HVavasour@headlandconsultancy.com
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