It was never going to signify a major turning point in the maelstrom of crises that the hospitality business has faced over the past two years. But the planned freeze on alcohol duty by our now former chancellor Kwazi Kwarteng might have provided some brief respite for an industry left punch drunk by a fiscal mess not seen in living memory.
That respite is now gone, courtesy of our current chancellor Jeremy Hunt, who quickly scrapped the freeze, in a move that has plucked away a potential £300 million in savings for the brewing and distilling business, according to the British Beer and Pub Association. This at a time of costs rising in every single part of the pub business, from the beer that comes out of the taps to the glass you drink it from to the beermat underneath it.
It’s a cruel blow, particularly given the platform hospitality was raised up on during the pandemic, with VAT relief, emergency loans and schemes like ‘Eat Out To Help Out’ given top billing by a government hoping for decent optics in the midst of a bleak and lengthy pandemic lockdown.
