Latest news with #pubs
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Listed: Five pubs and bars in south Essex on market looking for new landlord
Aspiring landlords in south Essex have an exciting opportunity to take the helm at one of five distinctive pubs currently seeking new tenants. Ranging from local favourites to bustling city centre venues, each pub offers its own flavour and community appeal. Here's a closer look at the five pubs now on the market for new landlords, according to Plough & Tractor – Basildon: Ingoing Cost: £9,795 | Annual Rent: £36,000 Located in the heart of the Lee Chapel North housing estate, the Plough & Tractor is a community-focused pub with a long-standing presence. Built in the 1960s as part of Basildon's development, it sits beside a neighbourhood shopping centre and boasts a strong identity. The pub includes three bedrooms, a kitchen, lounge, bathroom, and office space upstairs, along with a car park for customers. Half Crown – Benfleet: Ingoing Cost: £14,545 | Annual Rent: £55,000 Steeped in 18th-century character, the Half Crown is a traditional pub at the centre of Benfleet life. With original beams, a central bar, multiple seating areas and a fireplace, it offers charm in spades and caters to up to 150 people depending on the layout. It's a go-to venue for sports, quizzes, karaoke, and live music — drawing a loyal crowd from all age groups. Outdoors, there's seating for 40 in the rear courtyard and extra picnic benches out front, alongside eight parking spaces. Accommodation includes a self-contained three-bedroom flat. Winged Horse – Basildon: Ingoing Cost: £4,000 | No Rent Payable A rare rent-free opportunity awaits at the Winged Horse in Basildon. Nestled in a residential area with minimal local competition, this pub offers untapped potential in a populated community. Inside, the pub caters to all with a large main bar, a lounge area featuring a pool table, and capacity for 200 customers. Outside, there's space for 60 more in the grass garden and side patio. With four bedrooms and a private terrace upstairs, it also provides generous landlord accommodation. Spread Eagle – Southend: Ingoing Cost: £30,476 | Annual Rent: £23,902 A stone's throw from Southend United's stadium and just outside the town centre, the Spread Eagle is a well-placed venue for both matchday trade and regulars. The site is undergoing a refurbishment, making it a fresh prospect for incoming tenants. Post-refurb, it will feature a stylish main bar area, 68 internal covers, 58 external seats, a function room, and a spacious courtyard garden. The deal includes three-bedroom accommodation and benefits from SmartDispense technology to streamline bar service. Slug & Lettuce – Westcliff: Ingoing Cost: £9,795 | Annual Rent: £36,000 Currently operated as a Slug & Lettuce, the bar spans a large open-plan space with over 140 covers, a 10-metre-long bar, and room for dancing and socialising. Perfectly located opposite Victoria Shopping Centre and steps from the train station, it's popular for both daytime diners and weekend party-goers — thanks in part to its 2am licence on Fridays and Saturdays. There's also a secluded courtyard garden with room for 140+ guests and a kitchen capable of running a successful Dark Kitchen model. A three-bedroom flat is available, currently used as staff accommodation. From budget-friendly ventures to high-capacity nightlife venues, these opportunities each offer a unique chance to build a thriving hospitality business with community at its heart. Interested parties can explore more on
The Sun
5 days ago
- Business
- The Sun
Over 1,100 pubs and restaurants shut down since Chancellor Rachel Reeves' tax rises in October, figures show
OVER 1,100 pubs and restaurants have shut their doors since Chancellor Rachel Reeves's tax hikes last October, with venues closing at a rate of two per day, according to CGA and AlixPartners. The hospitality industry is struggling under soaring costs, with National Insurance changes and a 6.7 per cent minimum wage increase adding £2.9billion to employers' bills. Smaller businesses are taking the biggest hit, as restaurant numbers have already dropped by nearly three per cent this year. Kate Nicholls, chair of UKHospitality, said: "Independent businesses, the lifeblood of our sector, are being disproportionately crushed under the weight of unfair taxation and soaring employment costs.' The sector has already lost 16,000 venues since the pandemic began, with mounting fears that upcoming changes to business rates could further damage larger hospitality companies. Wetherspoon's boss Sir Tim Martin has long warned that higher rates would worsen the tax burden on pubs, driving more home drinking and fewer pub visits. Ms Nicholls added: 'We now run the very real risk of being taxed out of existence. "The Government must lower the business rates that punish high street businesses, fix the poorly designed National Insurance Contributions that penalise job creation, and cut the rate of VAT to stimulate investment." Pub chain collapses into administration as SIX sites shut their doors for good and 159 job losses 1
Telegraph
6 days ago
- Business
- Telegraph
Britain has lost 1,100 pubs and restaurants since Budget
Britain has lost more than 1,100 pubs and restaurants since Rachel Reeves's Budget, underlining the devastating impact of the Chancellor's tax raid on the hospitality sector. Bars, restaurants, clubs and pubs are closing at a rate of two every day according to new figures from data providers CGA and AlixPartners, with 1,122 venues shutting since last October alone. Graeme Smith, of AlixPartners, said: 'After a period of relative stability for pub and restaurant businesses last year, the first half of 2025 has proved more challenging, with the net closure rate increasing again – the big question for hospitality is what happens from here.' The step-up in closures comes after the Chancellor raised costs for employers in her October Budget, with the changes coming into force from April. Hospitality businesses have been hit particularly hard by changes to employer National Insurance contributions. The headline rate rose from 13.8pc to 15pc, while the threshold at which employers must start paying it fell from £9,100 to £5,000 per year. It means employers must pay the tax on the wages of many part-time staff who until recently were exempt. Estimates suggest the rise in National Insurance contributions has added £1bn to hospitality wage bills. Meanwhile, Ms Reeves's decision to increase the minimum wage by 6.7pc has pushed up costs for the hospitality sector by £1.9bn. Kate Nicholls, the chairman of UKHospitality, said the new figures showed in 'the starkest terms the impact of government-driven cost pressures '. She added: 'Two hospitality venues closing every day is not just a statistic; it represents the hollowing out of our high streets and communities. Independent businesses, the lifeblood of our sector, are being disproportionately crushed under the weight of unfair taxation and soaring employment costs.' The UK now has 98,746 licenced hospitality venues, including sports and social clubs. That total is down by more than 16,000 since before the Covid pandemic hit in March 2020. Ms Nicholls said the sector faced 'the very real risk of being taxed out of existence'. The new figures come amid mounting concerns that the Chancellor's planned shake-up of business rates will pile further pressure on large hospitality companies. Ms Reeves is planning to impose higher levies on companies with bigger premises in order to reduce the rates paid by businesses with smaller sites. Large pub groups including JD Wetherspoon and Fuller's have warned that the planned shake-up will trigger more closures. Sir Tim Martin, Wetherspoon's chairman, said: 'Higher business rates will exacerbate the already ferocious tax disadvantage that pubs are currently labouring under, inevitably resulting in increased home consumption and less pubs.' The British Beer and Pub Association has suggested that one pub would shut every day across Britain this year. CGA's figures show restaurants have seen the most closures over the past year: 633 closed in the year to June, while more than 100 casual dining chain branches and 326 gastropubs have shut. Ms Nicholls demanded 'urgent, decisive action to relieve the burden on a sector that should be a powerful engine for economic growth and job creation across the entire country'. Andrew Griffith, the shadow business secretary, said: 'The revelation that hospitality venues are closing at the rate of two every day as a result of this Government's choices is very concerning. 'It shows how these staples of high streets and communities are hitting breaking point under the weight of hikes in rates, jobs taxes and employment costs. If everyone in Whitehall worked a shift or two in hospitality this summer, they might understand this better.' A government spokesman said a recent survey by Lloyds Bank suggested UK business confidence was 'the highest in ten years', adding: 'We know the vital importance of hospitality which is why we are protecting pavement pints and al fresco dining, have cut alcohol duty on draught pints and are reforming business rates. 'The tax decisions we took at the Budget last year mean that we have been able to deliver on the priorities of the British people, from investing in the NHS to cutting lists as we deliver on the Plan for Change.'
Telegraph
02-08-2025
- Entertainment
- Telegraph
The English county with the best pubs, according to our expert
There's nowhere to hide at the Coachmakers Arms in Stoke-on-Trent. When I visited recently, I was quickly ushered into the Lounge by the barman with the promise that 'the fire is on'. What he didn't mention was that the room itself was tiny, everyone else knew each other, and I was to be the entertainment for the next hour. Who was I, went the questioning, and what exactly was I doing in Stoke on this rainy Sunday evening? For footballers, a 'cold, rainy night in Stoke' is a famous litmus test of quality; if you can do it there and then, the thinking goes, you can do it anywhere. For pubgoers, the challenge is less onerous – genial questioning rather than a howling gale and a vociferous home crowd – but the rewards for success can be worthwhile. Once I'd revealed I was on the hunt for England's greatest pubs, I was inundated with recommendations for other pubs in Stoke. The Six Towns (Burslem, Fenton, Hanley, Longton, Stoke-upon-Trent and Tunstall), it turns out, are full of good options – but then again, so is Staffordshire as a whole. From Leek to Tamworth, this is a county stuffed with great traditional inns, a county that, I think (and having ummed and ahhed over it, changing my mind half-a-dozen times) is the best in England when it comes to pubs. What it offers is the most reliable blend of the elements that makes a great pub: atmosphere, decor, good beer and a strong sense of place. For the last of these ingredients, you'll struggle to beat Burton-on-Trent, England's greatest historic brewing town, with its trio of very different but equally good pubs: The Coopers Tavern, a historic Bass brewery tap; The Devonshire Arms, delightfully cosy, with gleaming copper-topped tables and untarnished green banquettes; and the Burton Bridge Inn, where the town's brewing tradition still burns bright. For atmosphere, there are the classics in Staffordshire's less well-known spots, from Leek's quirky Blue Mugge to the Anchor Inn by the Shropshire Union Canal. My favourite out-of-the-way Staffordshire pub is perhaps the Brushmakers Arms in Oulton, simple but so welcoming and comfortable. And in terms of decor and beer the Tamworth Tap, twice CAMRA's National Pub of the Year, is unparalleled. This is a micropub that feels like it's been in situ for decades, with one of the country's great pub gardens. Of course, there were plenty of other contenders. Nearby, there's Derbyshire, with its marvellous blend of city pubs and Peak District delights, while the West Midlands, and in particular the Black Country, can match Staffordshire almost blow-for-blow when it comes to atmospheric pubs serving good traditional beer. Kent and Essex have a surfeit of excellent country pubs, and as many as half-a-dozen urban counties – from Bristol to Tyne and Wear – could have carried off the crown. Why is Staffordshire so good? My guess would be that this is a place with a resolutely working-class culture, where the price of a pint remains within most customers' grasp. Squeezed between the West Midlands and the North West, it's not a place that appears to go too big on fads and fleeting fashions, very good news when it comes to pubs. It's also a place that, in Burton, has a brewing tradition that very few other places can match, with the exception of London. But while all of London's great brewing names are now things of the past – remembered, at most, in elderly branded mirrors on pub walls – the drinkers of Staffordshire still cherish Bass, even if the owners of the brand (AB InBev) have only recently woken up to its potential. Nowhere is this more obvious than at the Golden Cup Inn, one of the three Stoke pubs I included in my guide. There are many beautiful pubs in England, but none has quite taken my breath away like the Golden Cup. Recently restored to the tune of £250,000, it has a superb Edwardian green-tiled exterior, decorated with Bass's famous red triangle trademark and with the words 'Bass Only' above the windows. This isn't quite true – there are lots of other beers available inside these days – but it was telling that, when AB InBev decided to put some cash behind the beer in terms of marketing material, beer mats and new pump clips, The Golden Cup was one of the first pubs to get them. If that was all The Golden Cup had, it would be a nice place for beer geeks and history nerds. But when I visited, just before my trip to the Coachmakers, it was full of people, young and old, some enjoying a bank-holiday 'Daytime Disco', most just chatting happily in the pub's plush interior. That's the joy of Staffordshire pubs: they're connected to the past, but still very much alive. They've got the lot, and it's well worth testing yourself on a rainy Stoke evening to enjoy some of them.
Yahoo
02-08-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Tiny pint glasses arrive at pubs as new campaign targets Gen Z drinkers
Tiny pint glasses have arrived at pubs as part of a new campaign. The miniature glasses, just under three inches tall, have been introduced by Greene King at selected pubs across the UK to encourage younger drinkers to sample beers before committing to a full pint. It comes after research showed that 31 per cent of Gen Z pub-goers feel too nervous to ask for a taster at the bar, despite it being standard practice in pubs across the country. The tiny glasses will be used to offer samples of the brewery's new Hazy Day Fruity IPA, a 4.3 per cent ABV beer with orange, citrus, and tropical notes. The tiny glasses will be used to offer samples of the brewery's new Hazy Day Fruity IPA (Image: Dave Phillips/PinPep) Will Hemmings, marketing director for brewing and brands at Greene King, said: "We're bringing our Hazy Day Fruity IPA to hundreds more Greene King pubs, just as the summer hits its peak. "We know a huge number of customers switch up their beverage with the season and Hazy Day Fruity IPA is a perfect sunshine refreshment. "But with so many people – especially younger customers – still unsure if they can ask for a free sample of something different, we're making it crystal clear: yes, you can. "Whether you're after something fruity, refreshing or just fancy trying something new, a quick sip could lead you to your new favourite pint." Although 65 per cent of Brits describe themselves as experimental when it comes to drinks orders, 70 per cent have never asked for a sample before buying. READ MORE: McDonald's launches new menu including Jaffa Cakes McFlurry and more Where is Destination X filmed? The new BBC gameshow hosted by Rob Brydon Pair of Britain's rarest birds successfully breed for the first time in years More than 70 per cent of Gen Z and millennial pub-goers said they would be more likely to try new beers if they knew samples were available. The Hazy Day IPA is now available nationwide as part of the campaign. For more information, or to find your nearest participating pub, visit
