Julia Lopez MP has warned that Government decisions on business rates risk forcing pubs, cafés and restaurants across her Hornchurch & Upminster constituency to close, after one local pub and restaurant operator told her office their annual rates bill will rise from £20,000 to £52,000 over the next three years.
The operator said the scale of the increase could threaten the future of the business. It is a picture being repeated across the constituency, where hospitality venues say they are being squeezed by higher taxes and rising costs at the same time.
According to UK Hospitality, the average business in England is set to see business rates increase by £32,714 over the next three years. For Hornchurch and Upminster, the impact is expected to be particularly severe. Research by the trade body shows the average local hospitality venue will see its rates bill rise by £11,927 by 2028/29.
Local operators describe the changes as a “double whammy” driven by Government policy. The new rates, calculated in April 2024 and coming into force this April, do not reflect the sharp rise in labour costs since then. Hospitality businesses have since been hit by increases to employers’ National Insurance contributions and the National Living Wage under the new Labour Government — costs that were not factored into the rates calculation.
Pressure is mounting in Westminster for a change of course. Conservative Leader Kemi Badenoch has reiterated that she would scrap business rates entirely for thousands of pubs and restaurants on Britain’s high streets, alongside cutting the average pub’s energy bill by more than £1,000 through a proposed “cheap power plan” involving the rollback of green energy rules.
The Government has announced a partial climbdown, assembling a limited package of measures aimed at pubs, but is resisting calls to extend similar support to the wider hospitality sector.
Businesses also face the loss of pandemic-era support. Under the previous Conservative Government, hospitality venues benefited from targeted business rates relief in recognition of their role as community hubs. That relief ends this year, further compounding the pressure on the sector.
“Pubs, cafes, restaurants in the constituency are really up against it and I know how devastated many are by the recent rates bills they are getting. That's why we’re fighting in Westminster to get their voices heard,” Mrs Lopez said. “The Government got this wrong – they know it but they do not know how to pay for a climbdown. The people running these businesses work themselves ragged and provide such heart to the high street. We have got to make sure the Chancellor finds a way to backtrack on her plans."
There are fears that closures would have a wider knock-on effect on town centres, reducing footfall for neighbouring shops and removing valued meeting places for residents, community groups and charities.
As the new financial year approaches, Mrs Lopez is urging the Government to recognise the contribution hospitality venues make to local life in Hornchurch and Upminster and to ensure policies support — rather than undermine — the sector.
