‘I was born in this pub. Labour’s tax raid could be final nail in its coffin’

A landlord who was born in the pub he now runs fears Rachel Reeves’s tax raids could be the final “nail in the coffin” of the business.

Gary Meads was born in one of the upstairs rooms at the Coach and Horses Inn in 1969, a year after his parents, Phil, 88, and Sheila, 80, started managing the pub.

But the family’s near-60-year spell in charge of the 18th-century pub in the Worcestershire village of Weatheroak Hill, near Alvechurch, is now at risk because a “perfect storm” of Labour’s increases in business rates, National Insurance employer contributions and the minimum wage has coincided with the end of pandemic-era VAT relief.

The Telegraph has launched a campaign to save Britain’s pubs, which are under threat from these issues, plus the looming changes to drink-drive laws that risk ruin for rural establishments.

“I’ve effectively had my wage taken,” Mr Meads, 56, told The Telegraph.

“Literally, I’ve had my wage ripped away because of the tax rises. I’m going to fight for everything, but there is a possibility we might not see the year out.

“Our margins are squeezed so much and trying to find £30,000 every quarter to pay the VAT man is getting harder and harder.”

The Chancellor is expected to set out plans for more support for pubs in the coming days, but there are fears it will not go far enough.

The Coach and Horses’ annual tax bill will increase by £8,000 because of the business rates raid alone, just two years after a £22,000 increase following the increase in employers’ NI and the minimum wage.

The pub has also faced increased costs because of the end of pandemic-era VAT relief, which had cut the tax to 5 per cent for the hospitality industry, and soaring energy prices.

“It is a perfect storm,” Mr Meads said. “That’s exactly what it is, but it only appears to be in hospitality, and the rates are so unfairly calculated.

“It just boils my blood, to be honest. The rate increase is just another nail in the coffin.

“I see people at my pub who live on their own and this is their only outlet of company. You see the smile on people’s faces as they’re walking down the path to the pub and they’re coming to their safe haven.

“If the Government takes that away from people, I think it would be awful.”

Mr Meads said he was practically “brought up in the pub” and started helping behind the bar from the age of eight.

“It was a great place to grow up,” he said. “I had a whale of a time. You could have as much Vimto as you could drink and as many crisps as you liked.

“That was until I was 11 and I was behind the bar on New Year’s Eve. Not working, just being a pain in the bum. I kept having a little half for myself. But I’ve never been so ill in all my life. That put me off for a few years.”

After leaving school, Mr Meads enjoyed travelling and worked as a salesman before taking full-time responsibility for the pub in 2000 at the age of 31.

“Basically, my dad was looking to retire and it was a case of, ‘Do you want to take the reins?’,” he said. “But he has never let them fully go.”

Mr Meads said the Government should cut VAT for the hospitality industry to 13 per cent – closer to the European average – and offer relief on business rates increases.

“We can’t work any harder,” he said. “If we got those tax breaks in place and the business rates in place, it would allow us to invest.

“I’m ashamed to say that I can’t afford to decorate my pub and it probably needs a really good lick of paint. It probably needs the toilets overhauled. But we can’t because we’re really living hand to mouth.”

Britain has lost more than 500 pubs under Sir Keir Starmer, resulting in the loss of thousands of jobs, industry figures suggest.

A spokesman for the Treasury said: “We recognise the significant value pubs bring to communities and the Chancellor and Prime Minister have been clear that we are determined to support them.

“The £4.3bn support package announced at the Budget was the right thing to do to protect the majority of ratepayers from increases to their business rates bills.”

[Source: Daily Telegraph]