Pubs and breweries demand immediate cut in beer duty

The UK's largest pub groups and breweries have penned an open letter to the leaders of the three primary political parties, demanding immediate beer duty cut and business rates reform.

The Inked by 80 of Britain's leading brewers and pub groups including Heineken, Budweiser, Greene King, Stonegate, JD Wetherspoon, and Diageo, the plea made its appearance in Friday's edition of The Times coinciding with the start of Euro 2024. Signatories called for a reduction in duty as a "first step" towards aligning the UK with the European average and pressed for an "urgent radical reform" of business rates.

Despite having a freeze on beer duty since 2020 with the current rate set to stay till February 2025, the Government found itself facing this demand. The letter asserted: "For every three pounds spent in a pub, one pound goes straight to the tax man."

Read more: Prison workers 'infatuated' with robbers smuggled 'sniff' and 'tiny phones' into jail for them

Highlighting the tense relationship between pubs and taxes, it pointed out that: "Pubs pay up to four times the business rates of other comparable businesses and until the urgent radical reform to business rates is implemented the current 75% relief in England is a lifeline without which many more pubs would close."

Citing the upcoming Euros championships as a stark reminder of the extent to which beer remains overtaxed, it said: "British beer drinkers cheering on England and Scotland pay 54p duty per pint compared to German or Spanish fans paying less than 5p."

The letter concluded by laying bare the financial challenges faced by publicans stating, "Combined with high costs such as energy, publicans currently only make an average 12p profit on the average £4.80 pint in the