Andrew Nelson

Business rates are about to devastate the UK hospitality sector in 2026. Take The Squirrels Inn in Northampton: its rateable value jumps from £22k to £86k in one go. Under the current 40% hospitality relief, that pub pays roughly £6.5k a year. From 2026, the bill rises towards £33k+, a near 400% increase for a village pub just to exist. The government’s own examples show a “typical” pub facing a 66% rates hike once the 40% relief is cut and new multipliers apply. That’s the mild end. Analysts have found big-city hotels with rateable values rising 385%. Once those lose relief and hit the new high-value “super multiplier”, a hotel paying £150k today could face £1.1 million in 2026; a 600%+ increase on one P&L line. Add wage rises, higher alcohol duty and soaring energy costs, and this isn’t reform; it’s a demolition charge under pubs, bars and hotels. The result: - More boarded-up locals - Fewer independents, more corporate chains - Higher prices for every pint, meal and room - Owners quietly closing or moving capital abroad If the government wants thriving high streets, tourism and night-time economies, it cannot keep treating hospitality like a bottomless cash machine. You don’t save British pubs by taxing them to death.