New prime minister Andy Burnham has announced his government will cut 20 per cent off business rates for pubs, clubs and live music venues across England from April 2027. The government anticipates the cut will save the average pub around £1100 a year, and positively impact almost 32,000 venues. The discounted rates will not be available to what the government calls “the very largest” live music venues, which it says it will define in more detail in next year’s budget.
“For too long, governments have stood by while cherished venues have disappeared from our local high streets,” Burnham said in a statement. “So today I am changing that. This government will back the businesses that people want to see in their communities.”
The government will fund the changes by reviewing relief for businesses it says don’t make “positive contributions” to the local community, including vape shops. It also intends on cracking down on businesses that sell through online marketplaces that don’t adhere to their tax obligations.
In the first three months of the year, around two pubs in Britain closed each day, according to data from the British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA), leading to 2400 job losses.
The cut comes in the wake of the #VATsTheProblem campaign led by chef and publican Tom Kerridge (The Hand & Flowers, Kerridge’s Bar and Grill at The Corinthia), and backed by industry organisations UK Hospitality, the British Beer and Pub Association, the British Institute of Innkeeping and Hospitality Ulster, to cut VAT for hospitality businesses from 20 per cent to 10 per cent, to bring it more in line with the rest of Europe. Burnham and his government have not yet made an announcement related to VAT cuts or the broader hospitality industry beyond pubs, clubs and live music venues.
“Pubs, clubs and live music venues are at the heart of communities across the UK,” new chancellor of the exchequer John Healey said in a statement about the rates cut. “They bring people together, support local jobs and help keep high streets and town centres busy – which is why we will back them all the way.”
The new rates cut comes into effect from April 2027.
