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Clarkson Calls Profitability Nigh-on Impossible for Pub Owners

December, 24, 2024-04:18

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 Clarkson Calls Profitability Nigh-on Impossible for Pub Owners

He added: 'The unintended consequences of these actions will be to drive inflation higher, put pressure on wages, and will drive many businesses to the wall.'
Government data previously revealed that more than 50 pubs a month on average were lost in England and Wales during the first half of 2024.
Real estate intelligence firm Altus Group said the overall number of pubs, including those which were vacant or being offered to let, fell to 39,096 at the end of June.
The figure is down 305 versus the end of 2023 when it was at 39,401 - with the pubs either having closed down, been demolished or turned into something else.
And Michael Kill, chief executive of the Night Time Industries Association, told MailOnline today: 'Jeremy Clarkson is absolutely correct in what he's saying - so many owners are finding the situation unsustainable right now.

'Small and medium businesses and independents are looking especially vulnerable, as they don't have that cash fluidity they need.'He warned that many operations faced closing in January and February, fearing the impact of April's changes to NI contributions and wages which could add between £30,000 and £100,000 to annual costs.Mr Kill added: 'Owners know they will have another level of costs in April and many people will say, they just can't keep going on like this.'

Recalling a recent occurrence, where one of employees called wailing on the phone after discovering a 'horror' bathroom 'accident', the presenter hired a team of specialists - a cost he had never envisioned listing on his business plans. The TV star and his partner Lisa have also encountered some barriers in the run-up to Christmas, with her goose night failing to sell out and only managing to shift five turkeys after ordering 40. But, despite the hurdles, Clarkson insists he is more determined than ever to make his pub work. 'It's warm and there's a fire and the staff are friendly and young and happy. It's a proper, traditional pub,' he said.

'By which I mean you'll love it, and I'll lose a fortune and develop a skin disease from the stress of running it.'Clarkson is not alone among pub owners in condemning the Government and Ms Reeves' Budget measures which she says are necessary to help tackle a £22billion 'black hole' left by the previous Conservative governmentShe was criticised last month by the chairman of pub chain Fuller, Smith and Turner, and also warned by the British Retail Consortium that job losses and higher prices were 'inevitable'.Michael Turner, whose family have run the pub chain since 1845, called the National Insurance raid a 'direct attack' on industries such as hospitality that are 'the lifeblood of our economy, whilst leaving the large City institutions that can afford to pay their share, almost completely untouched'.