Rachel Reeves to clobber pubs with new costs as businesses warn: ‘We can’t survive this!’
Firms say an increase in employers’ National Insurance contributions, brought in by the Chancellor to help raise money for the Exchequer, will cost them dearly.
Louise Maclean, director of sales and marketing at the Signature Group – a hospitality firm with 700 staff across 24 venues in Scotland – and director of the Scottish Hospitality Group, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “We are looking at a price increase on April 1 to reflect the cost pressures that are coming into the business, both from the Budget announcements earlier in 2024, but also from price rises that out suppliers are passing onto us.
“We have no choice but to pass on to the customer, which is what none of us want to do. We don’t want to see increased prices at the till.
“But there is no choice because, if we don’t, we’re going to be a loss-making business in 2025.”
Rachel Reeves has come under fire for her Budget measures (Image: Getty)
Venues might be forced to increase their prices (Image: Getty)
She added that suppliers’ costs, such as production of food, have increased because of the Budget, which are passed onto venues.
“We have our own cost pressures,” Ms Maclean said, “which is £1.7million, is what the Budget cost us. So, from March 31 into the April 1, we will see a £1.7million into our costs.
“We cannot survive as a business unless we pass them onto the customer.”
She added that the price of every single product will have to go up by about 10% if her company wants to keep going. She also said there are a “raft” of closures in the hospitality sector and that venues are “pulling back hours”.
In George Street, Edinburgh, for example, 50% of venues are shut on Mondays and Tuesdays as bosses “reign in back in” after a “buoyant” Christmas.
Venues in Edinburgh’ George Street have been affected by Rachel Reeves’s Budget (Image: Getty)
Referring to opening hours, she said: “We are so worried about what’s happening on April 1, that we have no choice but to contract just now.
“Nobody wants to see a contracting hopitality sector. We’re the lifeblood of the high street.”
She added: “For us to maintain profitability from 2024, we have to pass on the price rise to the consumer and ensure sales don’t drop.
“So it’s a big, big gamble. I don’t want to see £20 fish and chips in Edinburgh’s Grassmarket, but that’s what we are looking at. These are the battles we’re facing.”
Ms Maclean also expressed fears that footfall will drop and that it could seem to be “even more of a luxury item” if people do not have as much money to spend.
Ms Maclean concluded: “The phrase we are using is ‘Survive ’25.”
