Scottish Budget must match Chancellor Jeremy Hunt's 75% business rates relief for hospitality industry or Scotland's pubs will suffer – Nick Mackenzie, Greene King

Scotland’s proud heritage of amazing local pubs is being placed at risk, says Nick Mackenzie, chief executive of Greene King

From Glasgow’s Scotia Bar to Edinburgh’s World’s End, Scotland’s history of hospitality is known the world over. As the operator of nearly 250 pubs across Scotland and the proud owner of the country’s oldest working brewery at Belhaven, we are the custodian of so much of this history today.

For hundreds of years, hospitality has been integral to the nation’s economic growth. The sector currently employs more than 200,000 people and contributes more than £9 billion to the country’s GDP. At the same time, pubs are a driver of social mobility, as well as being community hubs and charity fundraising hotspots – in the last year our 2,700 team members in Scotland have raised almost £200,000 for the cancer charity Macmillan across our Belhaven pubs and beyond.

But both the economic and social benefits of hospitality are at risk, as the cost of doing business for pubs has never been greater. In Westminster last month, the Chancellor listened to calls from industry and provided much-needed relief for pubs in England and Wales, by extending the 75 per cent relief on business rates for hospitality businesses. This was welcome recognition of the regulatory and financial pressure pubs are under, and the vital need for support if we are to protect these community hubs.

Incredible entrepreneurs

At the Scottish Budget next week, Finance Secretary Shona Robison has the chance to show herself to be a champion of hospitality and match this much-needed relief for Scotland’s pubs. Over the last year, we estimate pubs in Scotland have paid, on average, £13,000 more on business rates than their English counterparts.

At Greene King, we work with almost 120 leased and tenanted partners across Scotland. These are incredible entrepreneurs who want to continue to be able to run their pubs at the heart of their communities. But they are facing a continual squeeze on their profit margins by the rising cost of doing business and the high burden of regulation.

The support announced for English pubs by the Chancellor means most of our leased and tenanted partners in England receive a 75 per cent discount on their rates bills until March 2025. The discount is capped at £110,000 per company so larger businesses like Greene King, which pays tens of millions of pounds every year in business rates, don't significantly benefit. However, it has been a lifeline for the thousands of leased and tenanted pubs and smaller operators across England.

Fundamental reform required

The disparity in support between England and Scotland has already led to one of our partners, Andrena Smith-Bowes, who runs pubs in Scotland and northern England, including the Elizabethan in Dunfermline and Ship Inn in North Berwick, to prioritise taking on pubs just south of the Border rather than in Scotland, because of the more favourable business rates situation she would face.

We cannot be in a situation where Scotland’s proud heritage of amazing local pubs is being placed at risk. In the longer term, we need fundamental reform of business rates to ensure pubs can be at the centre of our communities for generations to come. While we know this might not be possible at next week’s Budget, providing immediate support through rate relief is vital for the government to bring parity for independent and tenanted pubs in Scotland. We urge the Finance Secretary to act to support local pubs across the country.

Nick Mackenzie is chief executive of Greene King