Two British pubs closed every day in the first quarter of this year as businesses struggle to cope with the ‘sheer weight’ of tax rises, new industry figures have revealed.
The closures have equated to the loss of around 2,400 jobs, particularly hitting younger workers.
Figures from the British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA) showed that 161 pubs closed across Britain between January and March.
It represents a rise of 26 per cent compared to the same period last year, when 128 pubs closed.
In total, 336 British pubs closed in 2025 and more than 2,000 have closed in the past five years.
The BBPA have warned that the cost of VAT, employers’ national insurance rises and beer duty have placed a huge burden on business owners.
London and the south east of England suffered from the most closures, while Wales was the only part of the UK to see a net gain in its number of pubs – rising by three.
Earlier this year, the government announced a U-turn on business rate hikes for pubs, offering 15 per cent tax relief for pubs and music venues.
It was a move that was welcomed by landlords, but they warned that more needed to be done to save the struggling industry from disaster.
Emma McClarkin, CEO of the British Beer and Pub Association, said: ‘The scale of these closures is avoidable because pubs are doing a brisk trade, but their profits are wiped out by a disproportionate tax burden and huge costs.
‘For too many, the sheer weight of taxes and regulatory costs have forced them to shut up shop, which will only hurt communities, workers, and the wider economy.
‘This underscores why Government’s business rates relief was so necessary, and the support such a welcome relief.
‘We want to work with Government to establish a permanent long-term plan that will deliver permanently lower bills, a fairer system and ultimately protect this treasured sector. This means more people in jobs, precious community spaces protected, vibrant high streets, and more investment and growth.’
The BBPA said that the sector pours more than £34 billion into the economy and supports more than a million jobs – half of which are made up of 16-24-year-olds.
Meanwhile in Kent, a village pub dating back to 1890 closed after rising costs and overwhelming overheads became too much for the owners to handle.
The Brown Trout in Lamberhurst, Kent, closed its doors for the final time on February 1.
Its owners said: ‘We have tried so hard to make it work, but the rising costs and overwhelming overheads mean that pubs are facing an increasingly uncertain future. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts to those that have truly supported us you know who you are
The owner of The Brown Trout made a plea to locals to ‘support your local pubs,’ emphasising that it is ‘use it or lose it’.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves – pictured here at the Sipsmith distillery in Chiswick, west London, on October 9 2025 – has been criticised by pub chiefs following her Budget last week
The UK Spirits Alliance, which represents hundreds of distillers across Britain, urged the Government to carry out a ‘proper review’ of excise duty as hospitality is ‘fighting for our very survival’.
Neema Rai, spokeswoman for the group and co-founder of Westminster-based Tamesis Dock and the Battersea Barge, said: ‘Pubs have been hit hard in recent years and we’ve just been hit by yet another excise duty hike.
‘Spirits offer higher profit margins and help keep us afloat, yet we have the highest rate of excise duty in the G7.
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‘The Government needs to carry out a proper review of excise duty if it’s serious about supporting hospitality because we’re fighting for our very survival.’
Earlier this year, pub landlords told the Mail how they are already facing closing down and having sleepless nights over numbers that ‘just don’t add up’.
They hit out at a raft of measures from government including the increase in employers’ national insurance contributions and minimum wage rises, as well as the hike to business rates, saying current tax levels are simply unsustainable.
Many called for a cut to VAT, arguing the UK’s rate is one of the highest in the whole of Europe.
Simon Delaney, 60, who runs The Firbank Pub and Kitchen, in Wythenshawe, Manchester, told the Mail the industry was already in a ‘real mess’ even before the last Budget.
Mr Delaney, who has been in the industry for four decades, said he has seen his business go from earning ‘a very good profit’ to ‘none whatsoever’ since the pandemic.
‘Now we’re just focussing on keeping the business running, keeping our 20 people employed, continuing to serve the community,’ he said. ‘What we can’t do is run a business when it’s constantly making a loss.’
Mr Delaney continued: ‘It’s not just the business rates hike, it’s the national minimum wage increase, the national insurance rise, all going up in real terms means an increase to our wage bill of £300 a week.
‘We’ve got a government that has broken every single promise they made from day one. When you’re not making a profit in the first place where does that come from?
‘I have sleepless nights where I just don’t know what to do.
‘If the government does a U-turn that would be great, but it won’t be enough to save pubs from closing at an alarming rate. If I was younger, if I had a mortgage, I’d have to call it a day and close.
‘If you keep taxing everything at some point there’s no money left and that business is going to go under.’
Simon Delaney, 60, who runs The Firbank Pub and Kitchen, in Wythenshawe, Manchester, told the Mail the industry was already in a ‘real mess’ even before the last Budget
Andy Lennox, who runs The Old Thatch in Wimborne, Dorset, banned Labour MPs from his pub
More than 1,500 publicans have banned Labour MPs from their venues in protest of government policies affecting the hospitality industry
Andy Lennox, who runs The Old Thatch in Wimborne, Dorset, as part of a business that oversees multiple pubs and restaurants, banned Labour MPs from his venues in fury.
He is one of the landlords behind the campaign which has seen some 1,500 publicans bar the parliamentarians, and has previously said he and other pub owners could go on strike if the government does not act to support the industry.
He told the Daily Mail: ‘We are waiting for the details on the rent relief reversal, we haven’t had any details at all so far.
‘The main thing is that it needs to apply to all hospitality and not just pubs. What [the government] will do is they will come back after this reversal and say we’ve given you a massive support package.
‘Getting rid of a bill we are not paying yet is not support for landlords. The rates reversal is just removing a tax rise that we can’t afford to pay – but we can’t afford to pay the current taxes anyway.’
He accused Labour of ‘utter incompetence’, adding: ‘The first Budget cost my business £350,000, and we stripped it back to the barest bones.
‘My business is absolutely at risk. I’ve been in the industry for 20 years, I know what I’m doing, I’m pretty good at what I do and I cannot make it work, I cannot make the numbers add up, they just don’t anymore.
‘In 2017 we were making about 15 percent profit. I reckon we’ve cut that to around 4 percent.’
Speaking in January, Chair of the Night Time Industries Association Sacha Lord, who used to advise Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham, has warned the government is doing more harm to the hospitality industry than Covid.
‘I watched the budget and [Rachel Reeves] stood there and said we have listened to hospitality and we are going to reform business rates,’ he said.
‘Then an hour later people began looking at their numbers and said this was untenable.’
He continued: ‘This Labour government has been worse for pubs than the pandemic. They needed our support during the General Election.
‘We were told business rates are unfair, we are going to reform them to benefit hospitality. We were told they would reduce our bills and they would throw attention towards Amazon, parcel force, huge warehouses.
‘They have done exactly the opposite.’
A Government spokesperson said: ‘We are backing Britain’s pubs – cutting April’s business rates bills by 15% followed by a two-year freeze, extending World Cup opening hours and increasing the Hospitality Support Fund to £10 million to help venues grow. Later this year, we’ll also build on our Pride in Place programme with our new High Streets Strategy to revitalise our town centres.
‘This comes on top of capping corporation tax, cutting alcohol duty on draught pints and six cuts in interest rates, benefiting businesses in every part of Britain.’
