A pub landlord has issued an urgent plea to Chancellor Rachel Reeves, amid plans to soften the blow on business rates for the hospitality industry.
Speaking to GB News, publican Stephen Magorrian admitted it is becoming “almost impossible to survive” as costs continue to soar under Labour policy.
Following reports that she is set to U-turn on hiking rates for pubs, the Chancellor said any changes to business taxation would need to be implemented “carefully”.
She said: “We need to make sure that we do that in a balanced way that particularly supports our pubs and the hospitality sector.”
Expressing his concerns for the future of his Downpatrick boozer, Mr Magorrian told GB News: “I was at a dinner recently with a pretty prominent English politician, and he asked us all what we did.
“And when it came to my turn, I told him I used to be a publican, but now I’m a tax collector for him. And sometimes that’s the way it feels.”
He added: “If you think about it, 20 per cent in every pound we take in goes in VAT, I pay duty on all of the products that we buy, I pay 15 per cent National Insurance on everybody we employ, I pay tax on my insurance, which I have to pay for, I pay rates, and we’re about to have a big increase in rates, and at the end of all of that, if we’re lucky enough to make a bit of a profit, we pay corporation tax.”
Noting his vast array of staff members and casual staff members, he told reporter Dougie Beattie: “We employ 100 people, and then we have a number of casual employees as well.”
Pub landlord Stephen Magorrian has issued a desperate plea to Chancellor Rachel Reeves as he says running his business is ‘almost impossible’
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PA / GB NEWS
Warning that the surging costs is going to “put a lot of people out of business”, Mr Magorrian explained: “We really need them to do something for us with this because I’ve just gone through all of the taxes we pay, and we’ve also been hit with an increase from all of our suppliers.
“So their prices are going up again, that’s just hit us, and that’s taking effect in February. That coupled with an increase in rates and a sizeable increase in rates, it’s just going to put a lot of people out of business. It’s becoming almost impossible to survive.”
GB News reporter Dougie Beattie then responded: “And then of course all those employees will also go, and the money producers, the people that produce the tax that pay the public sector are really being punished.”
Mr Magorrian stressed: “Absolutely. That’s the way it feels. It feels as if it’s just never ending you know, it’s one thing after another.”
The planned business rates increases are the result of property revaluations and the ending of Covid-era discounts | PA
Rachel Reeves has been warned that more than 2,000 pubs, restaurants and hotels could be forced to close next year unless urgent action is taken on rising business rates.
Industry leaders say the scale of the increases facing hospitality firms risks triggering widespread closures across the sector.
The hospitality sector is heading for a difficult year, with industry group UK Hospitality warning that more than 2,000 pubs, restaurants and hotels could close in 2026 as business rates rise.
The trade body estimates that 2,076 venues could be forced to shut after higher property taxes come into effect on April 1.
Mr Magorrian told GB News
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GB NEWS
Its analysis suggests 574 hotels, 540 pubs and 293 restaurants are at risk of closure. That would be equivalent to around six hospitality businesses shutting every day over the course of the year.
UK Hospitality is calling on the Government to extend planned business rates relief beyond pubs to cover the whole hospitality sector.
Ms Reeves said of supporting British pubs: “I think that people can see that the biggest impact and the biggest concern right now is around pubs.
“Some of the smallest businesses, particularly some cafes, don’t pay any business rates at all because they’re not big enough to do so.”