CAMRA backs calls for 12-month business rates holiday to save pubs

CAMRA, the consumer group representing beer drinkers and pub goers, has backed calls for the Executive to extend business rate reliefs for pubs from three months to 12 months.

Pubs in England, Scotland and Wales have already received a year-long holiday from paying business rates to help them survive the coronavirus crisis.

Commenting, Chair of CAMRA NI Ruth Sloan said: “When all this is over, many of us are looking forward to getting down to the pub for a pint with friends and family. Pubs are a vital part of our social fabric, helping to tackle loneliness and social isolation, providing a place for communities to meet and offering a supervised setting for responsible drinking.

“The Executive needs to ensure that pubs survive this crisis and can re-open at the end of it. Extending the business rates holiday from three months to 12 months, which has already happened in England, Scotland and Wales, is vital to saving our pubs.

“We are also calling for urgent targeted financial help for small, independent breweries and cider makers to help these businesses survive this crisis.

“Given the suggestion that pubs and restaurants will be among the last places to re-open, and the Department for the Economy’s confirmation that breweries are on the priority sector list published this weekend, the Executive should also change licensing laws to all brewers to sell their products online and directly to the public during this period.”

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