‘Brutal onslaught’: Brewery McMullen’s takes aim at Reeves’ tax hikes after pub sell-off

One of the UK’s biggest family-owned brewers has taken aim at Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ tax hikes after it sold off more than a quarter of its pub estate.

Hertfordshire-based McMullen’s, which owned over 100 pubs before offloading 30 of them in January, has warned it is likely to struggle to stay profitable in the years ahead because of “brutal” Labour tax rises over successive Budgets.

“The last two Budgets have been brutal to our sector, and there is a limit to which commitment and passion, and fine weather can defend against such an onslaught,” McMullen’s chair Stephen Gould said.

“Of the cash extracted out of our business by the Treasury and received by investors, the taxman took circa 95.5 per cent – and it wants more. 

“We are pincered between the government’s insatiable hunger for increased taxation coupled with a regulatory cost-creation instinct, and a decline in our guests’ disposable income, impacted by persistent over-target inflation. Demand is under material pressure and our ability to sufficiently move price to maintain profitability in the coming years is poor while this dynamic remains.”

McMullen’s, which has more than 2,000 staff and owns the Old Bank of England on Fleet Street, Traitor’s Gate in Tower Hill and the Nag’s Head in Covent Garden, said it took the decision to sell off its tenanted estate of 27 pubs in part to “deal with any fallout of the increasing tax burden” following the government’s decision to increase inheritance tax.

The company, which is known for its AK ale and Country bitter and is poised to celebrate its 200th anniversary next year, reported a 16.7 per cent fall in retail sales of draught beer along with a 0.7 per cent fall in volumes, though this was partially offset by “some notable positive exceptions” including strong trade in London.

In its annual report, McMullen’s took aim at a suite of tax hikes that made trading more difficult, including hikes to business rates and a jump in employer national insurance contributions.

“It has become clear over the course of the past financial year how damaging and, at times, irrational government intervention in our sector has become,” Gould said.

“The short-term outlook is not encouraging unless the government changes their treatment of the sector. We need to brace ourselves for increasingly difficult times before it gets better. We are trying to deliver growth, jobs and sufficient financial performance to justify continuing investment, but we are having to do so in the face of government policies that are in direct conflict to this.”

“There is a fundamental duplicity in adding cost to businesses, particularly in relation to tax and labour, and then expecting businesses to grow to the benefit of all.”

Despite the challenges, McMullen’s reported a 9.2 per cent rise in turnover to £134.1m in the year to end September, while pre-tax profit jumped 18.9 per cent over the period.

Staff costs jumped by more than £4m during the period, led by a £780,000 hike in national insurance costs.

The company paid out total equity dividends of £3.3m, down from £5.2m the previous year.