Business
Higher business taxes to cost pub sector £150m and threaten jobs – analysis
Pubs are facing steeper business taxes that could cost the sector an extra £150 million and threaten thousands of jobs, new analysis suggests.
Firms will end up paying more despite business rates being lowered in the Budget, industry bosses are warning.
This is because they are facing a cut to existing tax relief next year, coupled with revaluations that could push up how much pubs can be taxed.
New analysis from the British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA) estimates that higher bills will cost the industry an extra £150 million – the equivalent to 12,500 jobs.
The BBPA calculated that bills will rise by £3,867 for the average small pub from next year, and by £11,085 for the average medium-sized pub.
Emma McClarkin, chief executive of the BBPA, said pubs across the country “are anxiously doing the sums and many will now see their bills will dramatically go up, not down, despite the impression the Budget gave”.
“The new lower multipliers combined with the loss of the existing relief will not counter the huge increase in rateable values,” she told the Press Association.
In the Budget, the Government confirmed a current 40% discount for retail, hospitality and leisure businesses – which is capped at £110,000 per business – will end on March 31 next year.
This will be replaced by a new system from the next financial year, which will see rates multipliers for retail, hospitality and leisure firms set 5p lower than the standard rate with no cap in support.
Rachel Reeves said it would be the “lowest rates since 1991” and would be paid for through higher rates on properties worth more than £500,000 – including the warehouses used by “online giants”.
However, the discount is less generous than the 20p reduction it could have been, industry groups say.
And analysis since Wednesday’s Budget has indicated that the change, combined with an increase in rateable values for most pubs, will result in a sharp annual increase to bills.
Separate calculations by industry group UKHospitality found that the average pub’s business rates, even with the reduced multiplier, will increase by 15% next year – amounting to an extra £1,400.
By 2027-28, the average pub’s rates will be £4,500 higher than today, and by 2028-29, they will be £7,000 higher, according to its analysis.
Kate Nicholls, chair of UKHospitality, said plans in the Budget were “quickly unravelling”.
“We repeatedly warned the Treasury ahead of the Budget that hospitality would be uniquely impacted by significant increases to rateable values, due to the pandemic impacting previous valuations,” she said.
“The Government can solve this issue. I’m certain they did not intend to provide online giants, office blocks and out-of-town supermarkets with a better deal than local pubs, neighbourhood restaurants and coastal hotels.”
MUMBAI: The Sir Ratan Tata Trust (SRTT) cancelled its Saturday board meeting, which was expected to consider the induction of chairman Noel Tata’s son, Neville Tata, as a trustee. In contrast, board meetings of Sir Dorabji Tata Trust (SDTT) and Tata Education and Development Trust (TEDT) proceeded as scheduled.The cancellation suggests that Neville’s appointment may have been pushed back to give trustees more time for discussions – since appointing a trustee requires unanimous approval. No new date for the SRTT meeting has been notified. An email query to Tata Trusts on the cancellation of the board meeting received no response. Sir Ratan Tata Trust (SRTT), Sir Dorabji Tata Trust (SDTT), and Tata Education and Development Trust (TEDT) have several trustees in common. Except for Jehangir HC Jehangir and Jimmy Tata, the other SRTT trustees — Noel, Venu Srinivasan, Vijay Singh and Darius Khambata — also serve on SDTT’s board and participated in its meeting on Saturday, people familiar with the matter said. Jimmy, Noel’s older half-brother, usually does not attend SRTT meetings.Saturday’s development comes amid unresolved issues from the last round of inductions in Nov 2025 when the inductions of Neville and former Titan MD Bhaskar Bhat were approved by SDTT but failed to secure approval at SRTT. SDTT, together with SRTT, controls India’s largest conglomerate, the Tata Group.At the Nov 11, 2025 SDTT meeting, Khambata proposed Neville’s appointment, while Noel proposed Bhat, as TOI reported in its Nov 12 edition. Neither name was on the formal board agenda. All trustees of SDTT approved the appointments (Srinivasan did not attend the meeting as his term had expired). Later, at SRTT’s meeting on the same day, both proposals were put off for consideration at a later date.Srinivasan, who participated in the SRTT meeting, reportedly expressed reservations, stating that these proposals were not on the agenda and that such matters should not be raised under “any other items for discussion.” While items not listed on the agenda can be introduced with the chairman’s permission, Srinivasan suggested they be considered at the next board meeting, according to a person familiar with the discussion.This time, Neville’s appointment was formally listed on the SRTT agenda but the meeting was cancelled. Bhat’s name did not appear on Saturday’s agenda. Neville participated at the SDTT meeting on Saturday, marking his first formal role at the flagship foundation.
New figures from the Scottish Liberal Democrats show that small businesses have declined in Scotland since 2020.
The party’s economy spokesman, Jamie Greene MSP, has called on the SNP Government to urgently boost support for small businesses as he revealed significant drops in the number of small or medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) across Scotland.
Mr Greene asked the Scottish Government to provide the number of SMEs in every Scottish parliamentary constituency in each year since 2015.
The data showed that since 2020, the number of SMEs in Scotland has fallen from 177,020 to 171,660 – a decline of 5,360.
Over the past decade, 24 parliamentary constituencies have seen a fall in the number of SMEs, with notable declines in more rural parts of the country, according to the Scottish Liberal Democrats.
This includes a 13.8% fall in SMEs in constituencies across Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire since 2015, and an 8% fall in Caithness, Sutherland and Ross.
The Scottish Liberal Democrats have secured tens of millions in support for business in this year’s draft Scottish budget, including a new £2.5 million package backing young entrepreneurs and an initial £36 million for business rates relief.
Mr Greene said: “These figures show concerning drops in the number of small and medium-sized businesses across Scotland.
“I’ve spoken to lots of skilled and entrepreneurial people who feel there are too many barriers to starting their own business, from the SNP’s economic incompetence to the crushing burden of red tape.
“I am pleased that Scottish Liberal Democrats secured some support for businesses in the draft budget, but we think the Scottish Government can go further.
“That’s why, in the coming weeks, we will be squeezing the Scottish budget for every penny to deliver for businesses.”
Deputy First Minister Kate Forbes said: “Entrepreneurs and start-up companies are the backbone of our economy and the Scottish Government has been working systematically to develop the pipeline of support required to help them develop, grow and prosper.
“The facts show that we are making clear progress in establishing the right conditions to help business founders succeed.
“There was a 17.9% increase in Scottish start-up businesses in the first half of 2025, while investment deals in Scotland grew by 24% in the first half of 2025 compared to the second half of 2024.
“The Scottish Budget 2026-27 continues to support business, investment and a skilled workforce to accelerate economic growth, including record funding for our entrepreneurs and start-ups as we act to harness Scotland’s strengths and opportunities to drive long-term prosperity.”
Courtesy of Disney Enterprises Inc.
Blue aliens, a family of superheroes and a city of talking animals boosted the Walt Disney Company to the top of the domestic box office in 2025.
Full-year ticket sales in the United States and Canada rose about 4% from 2024 to $9.05 billion. Disney accounted for the highest share of that haul with $2.49 billion in ticket sales, or 27.5%, according to data from Comscore.
It’s closest competitors were Warner Bros. Discovery, which tallied $1.9 billion domestically, or 21%, and Universal, which took in $1.7 billion, or 19.7%. Together, these three studios accounted for nearly 70% of the domestic box office market share.
No other studio surpassed $1 billion in domestic ticket sales or accounted for more than 7% of the total box office haul.
“[Warner Bros., Disney and Universal] have the advantage of having at least two or more distinct and successful sub-brands labels — such as Marvel under Disney, New Line under WB and Illumination under Universal — under their corporate umbrella that enables these studios to dominate at least in terms of the overall box office and percentage of the marketplace that they control,” said Paul Dergarabedian, head of marketplace trends at Comscore.
Disney’s standout performance came on the backs of already popular intellectual property. Four of its films were part of the top 10 highest-grossing domestic releases of the year, including the live-action remake of “Lilo & Stitch,” a sequel to 2016’s “Zootopia,” another entrant in the Marvel Cinematic Universe with “Fantastic Four: First Steps” and a third “Avatar” film.
“Most years at the box office are dominated by known IP and non-original content; films that have the baked in brand name recognition that theoretically gives those films a leg up in terms of marketing and potential box office success,” Dergarabedian said.
In fact, nine of the 10 biggest movies at the domestic box offices were from existing IP. Warner Bros.’ “Sinners” was the only original title to make the list.
“In 2025 there were some big budget originals that did incredibly well … but lest anyone think that trend is going away, 2026 looks to eclipse 2025 in terms of the number of high-profile sequels and known IP on the slate for the year,” Dergarabedian said.
That’s especially true for Disney.
The studio is set to release its first Star Wars film in theaters since 2019 called “The Mandalorian and Grogu” after the popular characters of its “The Mandalorian” series on Disney+; “Toy Story 5” is will hit theaters in June followed by a live-action “Moana” in July; then the hotly anticipated “Avengers: Doomsday” arrives in December.
A new Spider-Man film will also sling into theaters in 2026, but as part of a deal with Sony to have the character as part of Disney’s MCU, Sony keeps the majority of box office profits while Disney gets merchandise sales.
The box office will also get a boost from Warner Bros.’ “Supergirl” and “Dune: Part Three,” Universal’s “Minions 3,” “The Super Mario Galaxy Movie” and “The Odyssey,” Lionsgate’s “Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping” and Sony’s third “Jumanji” film.
“As we look into 2026, there’s plenty of optimism to go around,” said Shawn Robbins, director of analytics at Fandango and founder of Box Office Theory “The slate is packed with top-tier franchises, some fan-driven and others family-oriented, alongside filmmaker-driven tentpoles … plus an inevitable crop of strong or potentially surprising performers out of horror, comedy, indie, and other genres.”
Disclosure: Versant is the parent company of CNBC and Fandango.
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