British pub closures have hit an unprecedented five outlets a day, according to the BBPA.

Government taxes and red tape are damaging Britain’s brewing and pub sector as the industry faces one its most challenging periods of trading ever, according to a new report by the British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA).

The BBPA has called for Ministers to scrap plans to increase beer taxes by a third over the next four years, as well as abandon plans for new codes of practice on how alcohol should be sold.

An unprecedented five pubs are now closing every day, whilst beer sales have slumped by 8 million pints a day – the lowest level since the Great Depression of the 1930s.

Job cuts are rife across the sector – with 44,000 positions going in the last five years and a further 43,000 expected to be cut over the next five years.

Instead of creating new laws, the Government needs to focus on enforcing the existing rigorous laws, the BBPA said. If it doesn’t, the impact of such policies “will be to drive up business costs further and force up prices for consumers.”

BBPA Chief Executive, Rob Hayward, commented: “The Government should abandon its plans for more punitive tax rises on beer, and should concentrate on enforcing existing laws rather than introduce new ones. We need action to support the Great British Pub as a vital part of local community life in Britain. If we don’t have a change of approach, many more communities will be without their much-loved pubs.”

To read the report, entitled ‘A wake up for Westminster’, click here

By Natasha Piscitelli