More than 300 pubs have closed in the first three months of 2025 alone, according to the Campaign for Real Ale, and that’s before they’re hit with a whole load of extra costs from April
A crisis for Britain’s pubs has worsened – with locals closing at a rate of more than three a day since the start of the year.
Figures from the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) reveal 303 pubs across England, Scotland and Wales closed in the first three months of 2025. A further 46 have been converted into other uses. It comes as Camra also confirmed that 1,062 pubs were left empty last year after closing. And 210 have been turned into uses, typically shops or housing. The grim tally is set to increase as pubs are hit by a jump in employers’ national insurance from this Sunday.
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Relief on business rates for pubs in England has also been slashed from the start of April, piling extra costs on landlords. It has led Camra to warn that rates of pub closures and conversions will rise still further this year.
The Mirror is championing the nation’s locals with its Your Pub Needs You campaign. Among our demands are a fighting fund for pubs and for measures to make it easier for communities to save their at-risk watering hole.
Camra chairman Ash Corbett-Collins said: “Hundreds of pubs have already stopped trading this year. How many more need to shut before the Government takes notice? With big increases in costs from higher National Insurance contributions starting this week, and hikes in business rates bills for pubs in England too, it’s important for customers to remember that price hikes at the bar are the fault of the government, not hard-working publicans.
“Pubgoers are calling on the Chancellor to look closely at the rate of pub closures between now and the Budget in the Autumn, to think again on the employer national insurance hike for pubs and to cut rates of VAT and duty charged on beer and cider served in pubs. Without action from governments in all four nations, we risk losing more pubs which are a vital part of our social fabric and are at the heart of community life up and down the UK.”
There are warnings that hospitality businesses now face an additional £1.9billion in wage costs, £1billion of employer national insurance contributions, and £500milliom in business rates, as a result of relief being lowered from 75% to 40%. According to trade body UKHospitality, the cost of employing a full-time member of staff aged over 21-years-old has increased by more than £2,500 annually, a 10% increase. The cost of employing staff aged below 18-years-old has increased by 18% and for employees between 18- and 20-years-old it has increased by 16%.
It says seven in 10 hospitality businesses report they will have to reduce their employment levels as a result, risking job losses and lost income for workers. A third will reduce trading hours and 15% believe they will have to close at least one site, according to its research.
Kate Nicholls, chief executive of UKHospitality, said: “The costs hitting hospitality this month are eye-watering, and the impacts it will have on businesses, teams and communities are stark. We’ve already seen a chilling effect on investment plans and job creation – all of which have been put on hold or shelved.
As costs begin to bite, we’ll see venues having to tighten their belt even further through restricting trading hours or, in a worst-case scenario, cutting jobs. None of this helps the Government’s ambitions to drive growth or get people back into work. It needs sectors like hospitality to achieve both of those goals, but with disjointed tax and welfare policies, that is looking more difficult than ever.
Hospitality has the ability to generate socially productive growth and create jobs for everyone, everywhere, but this level of cost ties our hands behind our back. I urge the Government to work with us to bring forward a plan for hospitality that addresses these issues and backs the sector to serve Britain and create places where people want to live, work and invest.”
