I was on a train the other day with nothing to entertain me when I came across a discarded copy of the latest edition of Wetherspoon News, the pub chain’s quarterly customer magazine.
It’s a genuinely interesting read, with a good mix of food and drink news, people moves, pub openings, events and fundraising activities across the estate. Wetherspoons is a busy business.
Martin invariably uses his Viewpoint column to rail against the inequity of the British tax system and the business advantage it gives supermarkets over pubs.
'Absurd legislation'
This issue was no exception. But alongside the usual VAT argument, he also spoke out against an “absurd piece of legislation, very damaging to pubs, recently introduced by the coalition government” — the late-night levy (LNL).
Hopefully, thanks to all the LNL stories we’ve written, you’re all now familiar with it, but in case it passed you by, here’s the crux of the matter…
The LNL enables licensing authorities to raise a contribution from late-opening alcohol suppliers towards policing the night-time economy. It is a local power that licensing authorities can choose whether or not to exercise. It must cover the whole of the licensing authority’s area.
However, the licensing authority can choose the period during which the LNL applies every night, between midnight and 6am, and decide what exemptions and reductions should apply. The charge per venue is based on rateable value, and ranges from £299 to £4,440.
Retrograde
LNLs are coming into force later this year in (among other places) Islington and the City of London — where Wetherspoons operates 10 pubs employing 550 staff. So the company has decided to lodge variation applications to remove its liability to pay for them, with the effect that its pubs in the area will close at midnight on Fridays and Saturdays, rather than as currently at 1am.
Wetherspoons admits the decision “will result in some job losses”, plus a restriction of choice for customers.
Describing LNLs as both “retrograde” and “unfair” — penalising both good and bad operators alike, Martin outlined the choice Wetherspoons faced: “Close earlier on the two weekend nights or pay a large fee to open for just two extra hours per week. Or perhaps we should open until 6am — which would not cost us any more under the potty LNL legislation. At least, then, we might get our money’s worth.”
Cynical
He wonders, as do I, who thought up this idea, and what good is it supposed to achieve. Will Wetherspoons pubs closing an hour earlier on weekend nights help cure binge drinking?
Plainly not. The only logical conclusion is that LNLs are just another cynical tax on the pub trade dressed up in health and social responsibility clothing.