Tim Martin, the chairman of JD Wetherspoon, is to take to the stage at this year's UK Pub Retail Summit — the senior congress organised by M&C Report and the Morning Advertiser.
The founder of the 750-strong pub group — one of the sector's most recognisable figures — will speak out against the current UK tax regime, which he says is leading to "devastation" in large parts of the UK pub sector.
He will call for a concerted industry campaign to change the current tax system, which sees JD Wetherspoon pass on 40% of its revenues every year in tax, and which he says is playing a huge part in pub failures.
The event, which will bring together the industry's senior management tier, will take place on September 16 in London.
Martin said: "As soon as you move away from the South East, the impact of ever-rising taxes becomes obvious with street after street of closed pubs. In some parts of the country like some areas in the West Midlands or Merseyside, it is a scene of complete and utter devastation."
Martin, who built Wetherspoon from one London pub, which he opened in 1979, said the industry should campaign for a fairer system — similar to France — where pubs and restaurants pay a discounted VAT rate of 5%. This is considered fair because of the other taxes such businesses pay.
He said: "We need equality of tax."
The Wetherspoon figurehead hit the headlines this week after labelling Diageo a "bunch of morons" for calling for the duty escalator to remain in place for all alcohol drinks other than spirits.
Martin said: "This is short termist. There are too many people in this industry that aren't going to be around in five years. These people do not understand pubs. Every time you increase taxes it has a disproportionate impact on pubs, and increases the pricing gap with supermarkets."
There are still some tickets available to attend the UK Pub Retail Summit on September 16 in London. For full details visit: www.ukpubretailsummit.co.uk.