No Pub No Rent #NoPubNoRent

No Pub No Rent – Our nation’s pubs are closed an unable to trade due to the awful Covid-19 outbreak. Pubs and publicans have no income and are fearful of the future for their pub, yet disgracefully some pub owners, including some of the largest pub-owning companies are still charging rent. They are deferring rent – but all this means is tenants racking up huge debts, in some cases tens of thousands of pounds, that they will have to pay back once they are finally open and trading again. This simply isn’t realistic, as well as being unfair and if it continues, will lead to the closure of many pub businesses and pubs.

Even more outrageously, pubcos are demanding tenants hand over Government grants given to the pubs and publicans. These grants are clearly intended to enable small businesses, including pubs, survive the forced closure and yet are being instead taken to give to shareholders, foreign owners and creditors and in some cases prop up discredited and failing business models.

No Pub No Rent is a grassroots pub tenants’ campaign, started by pub tenants and fully supported by the British Pub Confederation and all our member organisations.

The British Pub Confederation have written to several of the largest companies about this. You can see the letters on our publications page.

The Government grants are needed for pub tenants to pay outstanding bills to suppliers and ongoing utility and other bills that they still face despite the closure. They are also needed for tenants to pay their VAT bills to the Government. They are also taxable. So these grants must go to the pub and publican – not the pubco.

We urge all supporters of pubs to write to your own MP asking them to tell the pubcos to stop charging rent on closed pubs and ask the Government to tell the pubcos to stop trying to take the grants, intended for pubs and publicans, whilst the pub cannot trade and it is illegal for them to do so.