The ‘Hands of our Pubs’ campaign now has the backing of more than 500 hospitality businesses
A pint of Heinken being poured
A campaign by a pub landlord in the Forest of Dean for fairer treatment for hospitality businesses has gathered support from across the UK. The ‘Hands off our Pubs’ (Hoop) movement began last month when a group of landlords met up to discuss rising costs – and now more than 500 other businesses from around the country have joined.
On Wednesday, the campaign group held a summit at The Speech House, in Coleford, with speakers including Tony Sophoclides, strategic affairs director at UKHospitality and Julie Kent MBE, the High Sheriff of Gloucestershire. They were joined by hotel owners, café operators, tourism leaders and independent publicans to discuss the issues facing the industry.
At the heart of the discussion was the “growing disconnect” between government policy and how hospitality actually operates on the ground – particularly in rural and market-town Britain, where pubs are often the last remaining community infrastructure.
Mr Terry-Lush, co-founder of Hoop, said: “Most consumers have no idea how many new costs are being piled onto hospitality. Business rates, an alcohol duty hike, higher employment and environmental taxes, rising energy bills and food inflation are all landing at once – forcing prices up while margins collapse.
“At the same time, supermarkets continue to sell alcohol at wafer-thin margins that pubs cannot legally or commercially match. Community pubs cannot absorb this imbalance. They either pass on costs and lose customers, or close. That is the reality.”
‘This is no longer a local issue’
Last month, the government announced a 15 per cent discount on business rates for pubs and music venues after a backlash against Rachel Reeves’ Budget announcements in November. But the Hoop campaign is pushing for more support.
In a post on LinkedIn following the summit, Hoop wrote: “The mood was was determined as speaker after speaker described the same reality: busy venues, loyal customers, strong reputations – and margins quietly evaporating under VAT at 20 per cent, business rates calculated on theory not reality, rising employment costs and supermarket imbalance.
“Hospitality is economic infrastructure: it drives tourism, supports retail, employs young people, anchors villages and gives high streets a reason to exist. When it weakens, places weaken.
“The summit was about prevention, about turning frustration into organised influence. About moving from polite letters to coordinated action. The message leaving Speech House was clear: this is no longer a local issue. It is structural and national.”
The group is now taking its fight to Westminster.
A spokesperson for HM Treasury said the government was backing Britain’s pubs by “cutting their new business rates bills by 15 per cent, extending World Cup opening hours and increasing the Hospitality Support Fund to £10m to help venues grow.