𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

The landlord of Britain’s best pub has given his withering verdict on the Chancellor’s Budget announcement today. Pub landlord George Greenaway runs the multi-award-winning Tamworth Tap, in Tamworth, Staffs, with his wife Louise. Last year the venue was named Pub of the Year by real ale campaigners CAMRA for a record-breaking third time.

Mr Greenaway said his overall thought on the Budget was one of feeling “underwhelmed”. Chancellor John Healey has frozen fuel duty until July 2027, but Mr Greenaway said that might not solve some of the major costs already incurred by the business under Labour’s tenure in power.

“We’ve had fuel duty surcharges from lots of suppliers, and they need to be reversed but we need to rely on their integrity to actually do that,” he said.

“Whether another Iran crisis will negate the freeze is another thing.”

Mr Greenaway said he may also have to speak to the local authority over the rates threshold increase for the hospitality industry as his own building was originally two properties, but he feared he may now have been classed as one and qualify for the relief.

The threshold at which retail, hospitality and leisure businesses pay rates, a charge on commercial properties, has been increased from £12,000 to £18,000. It means half of our shops, restaurants and gyms pay no business rates, the Chancellor said.

On the minimum wage increase by 3.9%, Mr Greenaway said: “That’s the sort of cost we have seeing if a staff member is the right fit for the business before they are potentially taken on with a higher rate.

“It can be an expensive exercise with the new higher the minimum amount when we are just seeing if that are right for the business.

“A bar job is more of a rite of passage, the more of a financial decision it is, the less of these kinds of jobs there are out there for students or people wanting a second job, and we all need a second job these days it seems.”

Summing up his views on if the Chancellor had metaphorically topped up the business pint, or left pubs with short measures, Mr Greenaway said: “I’m underwhelmed, I think this Budget is a continuation of the status-quo, I am pleased for the smaller businesses impacted by the change of rate threshold.

“But for energy costs for businesses it feels like (the Chancellor) is in head in the sand territory, because business suppliers of energy feel like a law unto themselves. There’s some silly rates out there.

“I’ve gone on a new out-of-contract tariff for our residential property, and the rates are significantly lower even out-of-contract than my business energy cost.

“There doesn’t seem to have been any real incentive to stop us having to continue to keep tightening our belts on energy costs.”