London nightlife gets a lifeline as new PM Andy Burnham cuts rates for pubs, clubs and live music venues
Sadiq Khan finally gets some back up
London’s late night venues are always in the news, from new openings to forced closures, and a few grumpy local residents in between. Usually, when it comes to politics and parties, it’s mainly doom and gloom with cuts, taxes, and illegal raves. However, thanks to the UK’s new PM, London nightlife might just be getting the lifeline it desperately needs.
Burnham is set to cut business rates for pubs, cubs, and live music venues by a whopping 20%. This new move towards slashing business rates is one of the latest moves in a whole slew of policies since his new reign.
In practical terms, these cuts would save your average pub roughly £1,100 a year, with around 32,000 businesses that will qualify for the cuts. Some business won’t qualify for the cuts, like some of the capital’s largest music venues.
The cuts will ocst about £100m a year, but are saud to be partly funded by reviewing reliefs for anti-social businesses, like vape shops in particular. Vape shops are among the list of businesses which have been singled out as enterprises that “do not make a positive contribution to local communities”. The government are also set to look at raising further tax from “businesses that sell through online marketplaces but do not comply with their tax obligations”. Burnham has previously promised to raise taxes on out-of-town warehouses for said online companies like Amazon to help pay for cuts to rates for hospitality firms.
More details are expected to be outlined in the budget which will confirm the parameters of the benefits. Talking about the cuts, Burnham said that "For too long, governments have stood by while cherished venues have disappeared from our local high streets. So today I am changing that.
This government will back the businesses that people want to see in their communities. I said I would protect pubs and local high streets – the beating heart of our communities – and that’s what we will do. What we’re announcing today is just the start as we work to bring back hope across the country.”
Hopefully, this will mean London venues will be able to battle a little more easily against the cossie livs crisis, keeping their doors open for local Londoners and visitors alike. It follows London Mayor Sadiq Khan's plans to extend licensing back in February in a bid to boost night-time economy which is still recovering post-pandemic.
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