THE OPERATOR of a number of unique Yorkshire Dales pubs – including the iconic highest pub in the UK – has hit out at plans by Chancellor Rachel Reeves to create a new tax for venues in picturesque locations.
Andrew Hields, who runs The Famous 3 in Yorkshire– the Tan Hill Inn near Richmond, The Green Dragon Inn at Hadraw and The Station Inn at Ribblehead – believes the new scheme will sound the death knell for many country pubs.
Pubs with stunning views, large beer gardens and strong community ties could soon face higher tax bills under new HMRC guidance, under a move that is being called “the nice pub tax.”
But according to Andrew the proposal is short sighted and subjective and a new attack on an already beleaguered hospitality industry.
“Pubs in beauty spots are mainly seasonal,” said Andrew.
“At best they lose money for four months, break even for four months and usually only make money for four months – the latter becoming more difficult due to recent Government decisions.
“Most “nice pubs” are rural which means they already have higher costs and often have less access to a local workforce, so have to pay more to get staff, more on service and increased marketing costs to create awareness and appeal.”
The Tan Hill Inn, while well known as a historic venue, is in a remote location and in bad weather can be inaccessible, meaning that it can suffer at certain times of year.
It’s off grid status means it already has additional overheads for electricity which can only be supplied by generators – leading to costs three times that of the average venue.
Andrew is perplexed as to how the decision is going to be made about who fits the criteria of the proposed new tax.
“How is anyone going to define ‘nice’? Is it the architecture? Is it the street it’s on? Is it it’s history?” he said.
“ Is it because it’s next to a river – which incidentally increases insurance premiums because of the flood risk.
“What this also fails to take into consideration is the additional insurance because rural locations like ours are far away from fire stations so in the event of a fire it will take much longer for help to get to them.”
Andrew added that the scheme also fails to take into account the benefit these pubs bring to the local economy and how further taxation will have a negative impact on rural communities.
“We are also a lifeline for other businesses in the area we operate, from tradespeople to local producers,” he said.
“Nice in this context seems to defined by what something looks like or its setting – not taking into account the challenges and expenses these particular businesses are facing.
“Also who visits a pub that is not nice? All pubs are arguably nice or people wouldn’t go to them.
“This is an absolutely nonsensical, badly thought out scheme which will ruin lots of businesses and communities.
“The Government need to seriously reconsider before making this move, along with other recent decisions which are having a detrimental effect on the hospitality industry.”