The BII has this morning responded to the leaked proposal for a ban on smoking in outside areas, including pub gardens.

Steve Alton, BII CEO commented:

“Since the smoking ban in 2007, our members have made significant adaptations to their venues, to accommodate all of their customers. These changes included huge investments in outdoor spaces and diversifying their offer to be able to welcome everyone to their pubs. The significant effects from the pandemic in 2020 are still being seen today including  heavy increases in food, drink, labour and energy, but pubs have time and time again adapted in order to thrive.

“Any further disruption to their businesses would be incredibly damaging, particularly for our small, drinks led, community pubs, who provide essential connection in villages, towns and high streets across the UK. They have already weathered so much and with only 1 in 4 making a clear profit currently, the impact of increased regulation and restrictions on their ability to survive and thrive could be devastating.

“Our pubs need support, investment and a fair and level playing field to be able to remain at the heart of their communities. Without them, their essential role across the UK is at risk.”

A new survey reveals how almost every hospitality business has seen steep increases in wages and food costs.

Year-on-year, 95% of hospitality businesses have experienced increased wage costs. It’s a similar story for food (89%), insurance (84%) and energy (57%) costs. That’s according to findings of a new survey by the British Beer and Pub Association, British Institute of Innkeeping, Hospitality Ulster and UKHospitality.

As new inflation figures reveal today, inflation in hospitality remains notably higher than the headline rate would suggest.

Hospitality businesses are overwhelmingly in favour of reforming business rates, a government manifesto commitment, to help reduce costs, which must be a priority at the Budget, with 80% of respondents clear it would have a positive impact on their business. 

In addition to business rates reform, businesses said both a VAT reduction for hospitality (85%) and a reduction in alcohol duty (34%) would be an important measure to allow their business to grow. 

In a joint statement, the trade bodies said: “It’s crystal clear that there is an overwhelming desire from the hospitality sector that the Government rapidly delivers on its manifesto commitment to replace business rates and reduce the burden on high street businesses, as well as continue current support.

“Hospitality continues to remain an outlier sector, with costs continuing to rise sharply compared to the rest of the economy. 

“With cost increases affecting almost every venue, this vital sector is being prevented from investing in businesses and communities, which would boost economic growth and new jobs. Instead, they’re having to use dwindling cash reserves just to pay the bills.

“The clock is ticking, with a cliff-edge looming on April 1 when relief ends and rates are set to increase again. Inaction would see bills spiral yet further, putting venues under increased threat of closure. 

“Alongside our members, we hope to see clear and decisive action toward delivering on the Government’s manifesto commitment from the Chancellor at the Budget in October.”

• New Sky Business data shows that 73% of fans agree that the increased number of EFL games on television from next season will give them more reasons to visit pubs 
• This comes on the back of Sky’s announcement of the launch of Sky Sports+, which will allow venues to show over 1,000 EFL games a season
• With a connected Sky Q box, venues will be able to enjoy four times more matches from the EFL with every team featured over 20 times a season

Sky Business have released new data which shows that 73% of fans say that the increased number of EFL games on television from next season will give them more reasons to visit pubs. The research also found that over 8 in 10 fans viewers say that they are interested in the EFL, showing that it has widespread appeal among sports fans. 

Launching this August, Sky Sports+ will be transformational in the amount of choice venues will have access to via live streams and a dedicated new channel. With more coverage than ever before from the EFL, both tennis Tours and men’s Super League, venues with a connected Sky Q box will be able to stream over 50% more live sport this year.
 
Sky Sports+ comes at the start of a new long-term and landmark partnership with the EFL, with over 1,000 EFL games a season featuring every team more than 20 times and every Championship club on at least 24 occasions. The scale of Sky Sports+ will be evident from the opening weekend of the 2024/25 season, which began last Friday 9th August, with every game from the Championship, League One and League Two streamed live – a first in broadcasting history. 

 

Sky Sports+ will make it easier for venues to browse, discover and show the sport that matters most to their customers. Venues with a connected Sky Q box will have the ability to choose up to 100 live events via concurrent streams, giving more opportunity to drive footfall, spend and dwell time than ever before. And the new dedicated Sky Sports+ TV channel will showcase a selection of the best live sport. 

 

In addition to this enhanced EFL offering, as part of Sky’s new four-year deal with the Premier League, its exclusively live coverage will increase by 70% with up to 100 more matches each season, from 2025/26. Over 80% of live broadcast Premier League matches will be on Sky Sports, and customers can expect at least four live games every week. 

James Tweddle, Director of Hospitality at Sky Business said: 
 
“Sky is the undisputed home for sport fans in the UK and we’re excited to bring pubs even more of the sports their customers love this season. 
 
“The launch of Sky Sports+ is fantastic news for our hospitality customers. Venues with a connected Sky Q box will have more flexibility to choose which match they show, meaning they can select the games that matter most to their customers. 
 
“With all 72 teams from across the EFL shown at least 20 times throughout the season - plus every game from the entirety of the Carabao Cup and EFL Trophy – venues can now offer a more localised, personalised sports viewing experience to help boost trade throughout the week.” 

The full Sky Sports package includes an unrivalled line-up of sport and record audiences tuned in during 2023. Football fans can watch more coverage of domestic leagues with Sky Sports than any other broadcaster, including Premier League, EFL, SPFL, and WSL. Through long-term deals, sport fans can continue to enjoy award-winning coverage of Formula 1 and England domestic cricket. 2024 has also seen the return of tennis and a ground-breaking Super League deal where every match will be covered live. This, on top every golf Major, NFL, netball, darts, boxing, summer rugby union internationals, means that Sky Sports has something for every sports fan.

The BII has welcomed the new Government’s focus on economic growth in the King’s Speech today. Pubs play a key role in high streets, towns and cities across the UK, and can quickly unlock growth through local employment, with the right support and investment.

Our pubs already provide essential employment opportunities for all, with skilled jobs and career pathways for everyone, no matter their background or level of academic achievement. With so many people starting their working lives in our pubs, they are key to social mobility, and our sector is committed to the critical importance of professional development, helping to accelerate people from entry level to entrepreneur, running complex and successful businesses.

The introduction of the Skills England Bill and specifically the reform of the Apprenticeship Levy, allowing more flexibility for allocation of training resources for our sector could be key to unlocking opportunities for all. Any reform that allows our pub employers to access short, skilled based courses to support their teams’ development will also enable gains in productivity across the board.

The BII also welcomes the Government’s intention to “seek a new partnership with both business and working people”. Our members, as small business owners are already battling incredibly tough trading challenges, as well as a huge rise in minimum wage rates over the last few years. Further burdens through additional costs and changes to employment conditions in their businesses could mean they are forced to reduce staffing levels and therefore limit growth potential.

Steve Alton, BII CEO commented:

“The new Government’s intentions to remove red tape and bureaucracy from our planning system, as well as reform the Apprenticeship Levy to allow for a more flexible approach to development in our teams, are hugely welcome steps.

“Our sector has always been a place for entrepreneurs and people who make a difference to their communities and teams every day, so to enable further professional development and removing barriers to business growth will help us do even more.

“Our members already recognise the importance of fair wages, but we must impress on Government the need for support and investment in their small, essential businesses at the heart of communities to be able to afford this.

“With no mention of the extension of the Business Rates relief due to end in March 2025, they now need an assurance that this will be continued until a full reform of the outdated system has been actioned. We also need an overall rebalancing of the unfair taxation of our bricks and mortar businesses, to allow them to invest in and grow. 

“We look forward to working closely with the Government, taking the challenges and voices of our members directly to those in power, helping to create an environment where our pubs and their teams can thrive in the heart of their communities.”

At the wrap party of this year’s Pedalling for Pubs campaign, organisers unveiled a complete rebrand for the initiative, with the new name for the charity bike ride announced as ‘Hospitality Rides’. Organisers made the decision to rebrand to Hospitality Rides to meet demand from the sector to broaden the initiative to all of hospitality, and communicate that fundraising positively impacts the whole of the UK on-trade. 

Organisers announced that the initiative’s first cycle challenge as Hospitality Rides will take place in the Spring of 2025, with fundraisers set to take on an epic journey across Taiwan. 

The Hospitality Rides rebrand follows three highly successful charity bike rides under the Pedalling for Pubs name, with riders of this year’s campaign raising an incredible £320k, thanks to fundraisers, donors, supporting partners and sponsors including KAM, Punch Pubs, Greene King, Avani Solutions, Fleet Street, Lucky Saint, Britvic and Play it Green. 

As Hospitality Rides, organisers hope that the charity bike challenge will get even more people from the sector involved and raise even more vital funds to supporting the incredible work that the Licenced Trade Charity and Only a Pavement Away do for the sector. 

Ride founder, Katy Moses of KAM research agency said, “After three successful years under the Pedalling for Pubs name, we felt it was the right time to rebrand the initiative to ensure all of the hospitality sector knows this epic charity bike ride is open to all and that funds raised are used to support the whole sector. 

We’re delighted to launch Hospitality Rides. We hope this will encourage even more people from the sector to get involved and make future years bigger and better than ever!

Thank you to everyone who has made the ride what it is today, seeing the impact that the fundraising is having on the people the Licenced Trade Charity and Only a Pavement Away support really is fantastic. Roll on Hospitality Rides 2025.”

The Hospitality Rides brand was created with the support of design agency Natural Selection.