Landlord Paul Silcock argues the case for a cut in VAT for pubs
Do you know what’s worse than a tired old sash window? A tired old sash window in a conservation area. Don’t get me wrong, I approve of conservation areas, fingers crossed they can be implemented correctly and stop everywhere turning into identikit Lego builds.
That’s not to say I don’t see the value in modernisation either. Otherwise we would still be living in a world where ice cream sellers sold the ice cream on top of a glass cone that you licked your ice cream from — and then handed back to the ice cream seller who would rarely, if ever, wash them. They were called penny licks, and that’s how you bought your ice cream on the go.
Take that, social distancing.
Seriously, we did this until the turn of the 19th century before someone pointed out that maybe there was a link between this and tuberculosis. Honestly, it’s one of those moments in history that make you wonder how we as a species have survived.
What on earth does this have to do with beer, and therefore the right to be included in the Oxford Drinker?
Because tired old sash windows are a great illustration point for this article – the current state of not just the pub but the hospitality industry as a whole, those seeking a solution, and what you can do to help.
I admit that whole bit about ice cream was just a bit of a diversion, but it does blow my mind that essentially we had communal licking posts spreading disease just over a hundred years ago. And paid for the privilege. I digress again. No more ice cream.
So here’s the actual thing. The sash windows on the front of my pub are tatty. I’ve done my best in the past to patch them up, and I’ll be doing it again very soon. But I’m no sash window repairman. That’s a skilled job, done by professionals with more woodwork tools than I’ve got pint glasses and who were born with a pencil behind their ear (their poor mothers!) Sooner or later the sash windows are going to need replacing, and that is not going to be cheap. Like over £10,000 not cheap. It’s going to be so not cheap because they need to be replaced in a manner sympathetic to the neighbourhood, which, if you hadn’t guessed, is in a conservation area. So I can’t get the slightly cheaper PVC options, before anyone suggests it.
This is the crux of this article.
I’m going to need windows in the pub. Sure, it’s lovely weather as I type this, but come winter, you’re going to want a bit of glass between you and the outside world. In the past I’ve talked about there being pubs for all sorts of evenings. Sports, quiz, dining, socialising. Not sure there’s a market for a pub where you freeze your bollocks off. Profit margins though are making this sash window expense tricky to say the least.
I don’t want to paint a picture of poverty and horror for the pub industry. Sure the profit landscape has changed, but we’re not on the verge of extinction yet, although the worrying dark cloud on the horizon does seem to be getting closer, or maybe just larger and darker (which probably isn’t any better). I don’t want to be seen wringing my hands together in woe, and this article is absolutely not a begging letter. It is to highlight how important Tom Kerridge’s #VATsTheProblem campaign is.
Tom Kerridge, just in case you don’t know, was the first chef to win two Michelin stars for a pub, the Hand & Flowers in Marlow. His second pub also won a Michelin star. He’s opened other restaurants since then as well, and all this in the time I’ve been running the Gardeners Arms. What an over-achiever — me, not him! Seriously though, that’s impressive. The man knows a thing or two about the hospitality industry. So when he spearheads a movement to get the Government to reduce VAT for the hospitality industry to 10%, you should rightly pay attention.
The VAT’s The Problem campaign is not motivated by greed. Tom Kerridge isn’t wanting a 10% VAT cut so he can finally buy that gold speedboat he’s been after. The cut in VAT is so those in the hospitality industry can afford to re-invest in their businesses. Whether that’s putting money into marketing. New furniture. Sorting the plumbing. Getting that extension. Leaky roof. Or, I don’t know, wild stab in the dark here, getting your sash windows fixed.
Paul Silcock is landlord of the Gardeners Arms, Plantation Road, Oxford
Look, I know it sounds a bit “poor me”, and so many other sectors are struggling too. Though not in the oil market, as strangely those guys seem to be doing alright. I’m not writing this article for the other sectors of industry though. I’m writing this article for you, the beer drinker reading it in the pub. Or possibly on the bus home. Wherever you read it, you have an interest in pubs, certainly in what we sell but almost certainly in the pub itself. This article isn’t just to make you aware of Tom Kerridge’s campaign.
Just to be clear, he’s the spokesman for this campaign, but it’s also backed by UKHospitality, the British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA), the British Institute of Innkeeping (BII) and others.
This article is to ask for your help with the campaign.
And it’s really simple to do.
Just go to vatstheproblem.co.uk and sign the online petition. Like, two minutes of your time, on your phone. Name, email address, and done.
Then, and here’s the bit where you have a chance to go above and beyond the call – ask a friend to do the same. Obviously with their own name and email, otherwise it would be pointless. But ask them, because this is a real case of the more the merrier.
Like I’ve said, I know other sectors are struggling, but if you care for pubs, do this simple thing. It will help, if nothing else. At least you know you tried, you did a little something towards alleviating the problem. Otherwise, to horribly misquote Pastor Martin Niemöller,
They came for the pubs, but I was not a pub, so I did nothing,
They came for the cafes, but I was not a cafe, so I did nothing,
They came for the restaurants, but I was not a restaurant, so I did nothing,
They came for the wine bars, but I was not a wine bar, so I did nothing,
I came to go out, but there was nowhere to go, so I did nothing.
Yes, lowering VAT is a big ask for the Government and the country’s finances. So is short-sightedly scrabbling for as much tax as possible as quickly as possible and then wondering where all the small businesses have gone and you’ve no-one to tax but the billionaires (oh, there’s a thought!) But if enough people show they care about the hospitality industry, if enough people sign that petition, maybe, just maybe the Government will listen.
VAT’s the Problem!
Landlord Paul Silcock argues the case for a cut in VAT for pubs
Do you know what’s worse than a tired old sash window? A tired old sash window in a conservation area. Don’t get me wrong, I approve of conservation areas, fingers crossed they can be implemented correctly and stop everywhere turning into identikit Lego builds.
That’s not to say I don’t see the value in modernisation either. Otherwise we would still be living in a world where ice cream sellers sold the ice cream on top of a glass cone that you licked your ice cream from — and then handed back to the ice cream seller who would rarely, if ever, wash them. They were called penny licks, and that’s how you bought your ice cream on the go.
Take that, social distancing.
Seriously, we did this until the turn of the 19th century before someone pointed out that maybe there was a link between this and tuberculosis. Honestly, it’s one of those moments in history that make you wonder how we as a species have survived.
What on earth does this have to do with beer, and therefore the right to be included in the Oxford Drinker?
Because tired old sash windows are a great illustration point for this article – the current state of not just the pub but the hospitality industry as a whole, those seeking a solution, and what you can do to help.
I admit that whole bit about ice cream was just a bit of a diversion, but it does blow my mind that essentially we had communal licking posts spreading disease just over a hundred years ago. And paid for the privilege. I digress again. No more ice cream.
So here’s the actual thing. The sash windows on the front of my pub are tatty. I’ve done my best in the past to patch them up, and I’ll be doing it again very soon. But I’m no sash window repairman. That’s a skilled job, done by professionals with more woodwork tools than I’ve got pint glasses and who were born with a pencil behind their ear (their poor mothers!) Sooner or later the sash windows are going to need replacing, and that is not going to be cheap. Like over £10,000 not cheap. It’s going to be so not cheap because they need to be replaced in a manner sympathetic to the neighbourhood, which, if you hadn’t guessed, is in a conservation area. So I can’t get the slightly cheaper PVC options, before anyone suggests it.
This is the crux of this article.
I’m going to need windows in the pub. Sure, it’s lovely weather as I type this, but come winter, you’re going to want a bit of glass between you and the outside world. In the past I’ve talked about there being pubs for all sorts of evenings. Sports, quiz, dining, socialising. Not sure there’s a market for a pub where you freeze your bollocks off. Profit margins though are making this sash window expense tricky to say the least.
I don’t want to paint a picture of poverty and horror for the pub industry. Sure the profit landscape has changed, but we’re not on the verge of extinction yet, although the worrying dark cloud on the horizon does seem to be getting closer, or maybe just larger and darker (which probably isn’t any better). I don’t want to be seen wringing my hands together in woe, and this article is absolutely not a begging letter. It is to highlight how important Tom Kerridge’s #VATsTheProblem campaign is.
Tom Kerridge, just in case you don’t know, was the first chef to win two Michelin stars for a pub, the Hand & Flowers in Marlow. His second pub also won a Michelin star. He’s opened other restaurants since then as well, and all this in the time I’ve been running the Gardeners Arms. What an over-achiever — me, not him! Seriously though, that’s impressive. The man knows a thing or two about the hospitality industry. So when he spearheads a movement to get the Government to reduce VAT for the hospitality industry to 10%, you should rightly pay attention.
The VAT’s The Problem campaign is not motivated by greed. Tom Kerridge isn’t wanting a 10% VAT cut so he can finally buy that gold speedboat he’s been after. The cut in VAT is so those in the hospitality industry can afford to re-invest in their businesses. Whether that’s putting money into marketing. New furniture. Sorting the plumbing. Getting that extension. Leaky roof. Or, I don’t know, wild stab in the dark here, getting your sash windows fixed.
Look, I know it sounds a bit “poor me”, and so many other sectors are struggling too. Though not in the oil market, as strangely those guys seem to be doing alright. I’m not writing this article for the other sectors of industry though. I’m writing this article for you, the beer drinker reading it in the pub. Or possibly on the bus home. Wherever you read it, you have an interest in pubs, certainly in what we sell but almost certainly in the pub itself. This article isn’t just to make you aware of Tom Kerridge’s campaign.
Just to be clear, he’s the spokesman for this campaign, but it’s also backed by UKHospitality, the British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA), the British Institute of Innkeeping (BII) and others.
This article is to ask for your help with the campaign.
And it’s really simple to do.
Just go to vatstheproblem.co.uk and sign the online petition. Like, two minutes of your time, on your phone. Name, email address, and done.
Then, and here’s the bit where you have a chance to go above and beyond the call – ask a friend to do the same. Obviously with their own name and email, otherwise it would be pointless. But ask them, because this is a real case of the more the merrier.
Like I’ve said, I know other sectors are struggling, but if you care for pubs, do this simple thing. It will help, if nothing else. At least you know you tried, you did a little something towards alleviating the problem. Otherwise, to horribly misquote Pastor Martin Niemöller,
They came for the pubs, but I was not a pub, so I did nothing,
They came for the cafes, but I was not a cafe, so I did nothing,
They came for the restaurants, but I was not a restaurant, so I did nothing,
They came for the wine bars, but I was not a wine bar, so I did nothing,
I came to go out, but there was nowhere to go, so I did nothing.
Yes, lowering VAT is a big ask for the Government and the country’s finances. So is short-sightedly scrabbling for as much tax as possible as quickly as possible and then wondering where all the small businesses have gone and you’ve no-one to tax but the billionaires (oh, there’s a thought!) But if enough people show they care about the hospitality industry, if enough people sign that petition, maybe, just maybe the Government will listen.
And I can get new sash windows.
vatstheproblem.co.uk
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