£100M? Yes, Prime Minister.

In his bi-monthly column, F&B expert Matt Harris serves up food for thought (with plenty of takeaways advice) from the inhospitable world of hospitality.

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Did you hear that collective exhale echoing from pub cellars and live music venues across England last week?

That was when Prime Minister Andy Burnham officially announced a £100 million push to save the high street, headlining a headline-grabbing 20% cut to business rates for pubs, clubs and music venues across the country.

As someone who spends half his life staring at crippling overhead spreadsheets, let me say this loudly: Thank you, Prime Minister. We’ll take the money.

A 20% discount on business rates is no small change.

For an independent pub or neighbourhood venue operating on razor-thin margins, knocking a fifth off one of your largest fixed overheads is genuinely meaningful.

Saving an estimated £1,000 a year per venue can be the difference between surviving winter and handing the keys back to the landlord.

It’s also a sign that Downing Street is finally acknowledging the high risk to our high streets. While previous announcements have been death by a 1000 cuts of wage hikes, employer NICs and dithering tax reforms, actually cutting property taxes gives operators room to breathe.

That said, I’m not quite ready to pop the Devaux Grande Reserve just yet. A business rate cut is a lifeboat, not a cure.

First, restaurants and hotels have been left out in the cold entirely, leaving a huge chunk of the hospitality sector wondering why their utility bills and tax burdens are any less urgent.

Second, for the pubs and venues that do qualify, a 20% rate cut helps keep us going a little longer, but it doesn’t fix the fact that food and energy inflation have permanently shifted baseline costs.

And it certainly doesn’t address the broader consumer crisis, where guests are scaling back on nights out because their own household budgets are squeezed.

So, how do us independent venue operators actually turn this £100m policy push into long-term survival?

Don’t pocket the savings – reinvest in your margin: Do not use this tax relief to lower your drink prices in a race to the bottom. Take that saved cash and deploy it directly into staff retention, training or menu engineering that trims waste and protects your gross margin.
Keep shouting for the VAT cut: This business rates relief is a welcome first step but it is a fraction of what a VAT reduction to 10% would do for the sector. Don’t let politicians off the hook just because they handed us a small snippet of relief.

Andy Burnham has thrown England’s pubs and music venues a much-needed line. Now it’s up to independent operators to use that breathing room to get laser-focused on their numbers and demand that the rest of the hospitality sector gets the same relief.

Matt Harris – Founder of Planet of the Grapes

Matt started his Food & Beverage journey aged 19 working at Thresher's in Brixton. With a WSET diploma in wine and spirits under his belt, he went on to establish wine merchants Planet of the Grapes in 2004. Now – at the ripe old age of 52 – Matt's empire includes multiple venues around London including bars in Leadenhall Market and East Dulwich as well as restaurant Fox Fine Wines & Spirits at London Wall.

Planet of the Grapes

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Matt Harris

Matt started his Food & Beverage journey aged 19 working at Thresher’s in Brixton. With a WSET diploma in wine and spirits under his belt, he went on to establish wine merchants Planet of the Grapes in 2004. Now – at the ripe old age of 52 – Matt’s empire includes multiple venues around London including bars in Leadenhall Market and East Dulwich as well as restaurant Fox Fine Wines & Spirits at London Wall.

Planet of the Grapes

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£100M? Yes, Prime Minister.

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