'I've run a pub for 4 years - Rachel Reeves' budget is going to destroy us!'

Withington Public Hall Institute has celebrated its fourth birthday as a community pub and pizza venue - but director Neil Woodward fears that after the 2024 October Budget it won't be around for its fifth.

"It's very depressing," he told the Express. "We're going to be really squeezed. It suggests to me that the Government really don't understand hospitality and how it works."

The historic building that houses Withington Institute was originally gifted to the people of Withington, south Manchester in 1861 and later became a working men's club.

After it closed six years ago Neil held several pop-up events there before taking on the lease to run something more permanent as a social enterprise.

Along with its key hospitality it has a big focus on grass roots music.

The Community Interest Company now employs eight people via a recruitment policy that involves disadvantaged youngsters from all backgrounds, and Neil hoped the Budget would help all hospitality while also recognising the benefits of social impact businesses like his.

But the rise in the National minimum wage coupled with the increase in National Insurance costs is a 'double whammy.'

"I need to work out the actual financial impact - particularly the effect of the employer's NI (National Insurance)," he said.

"And while we absolutely support the rise in the minimum wage it will really squeeze our margins.

"It will make it difficult for everyone in hospitality but particularly organisations like us that wants to give opportunities to those with low-skill or limited experience.

"We aspire to pay our people more - ideally the Real Living Wage - but we just haven't been able to.

"This is going to make it even harder to invest in our people and do the good stuff that we do in terms of developing young inexperienced people."

Neil said although they were a Not for Profit CIC they still needed to be commercially viable - and would have gone broke this summer had it not been for fund raising events.

Today looks no brighter, he says.

"I can't see anything in the Budget which will increase consumer spending - especially as everyone is dealing with high mortgage rates and energy bills.

"Alcohol duty is up on canned and bottled goods after we've already seen a massive increase in costs from suppliers.

"There's no benefit on VAT either- no cut in the 20 per cent rate. No kick-back or sweetener at all for our sector. Overall it feels like a squeeze. It's going to be very difficult."

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