Why it matters: Suffolk pubs face a 76% business rates increase over three years from changes in Rachel Reeves's November budget. The average pub will pay an extra £12,900, with some facing bills more than double that.
Ipswich has 55 pubs – one for every 2,540 residents – according to the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA). At least one pub closes nationally every day.
The big picture: The U-turn follows weeks of mounting pressure after industry groups and Labour MPs warned the combined impact of higher property valuations and the end of Covid-era discounts would force mass closures from April.
The Valuation Office released much higher property valuations on the same day as Reeves's Budget in November 2025. Meanwhile, the 40% Covid-era discount on business rates ends in April. More than 30 Labour MPs wrote to the chancellor demanding intervention.
At least one pub per day closed in 2025, with 572 licensed premises shutting in the past year, industry data shows.
What they're saying: Gordon Taylor, chairman of the Ipswich and East Suffolk branch of CAMRA, said: "Whilst it is welcome that the government is set to revise the business rate increase for pubs, as ever, the devil will be in the details. A wholesale review of business rates and taxes on pubs and hospitality in general is what is really needed in order to help support them."
Nick Mackenzie, chief executive of Greene King, which operates nine pubs in the Ipswich area, said: "[The] news is a glimmer of hope for pubs. While we're relieved our concerns are being listened to and acted on, what we need to see is a significant reduction in business rates bills for all pubs, such as a 20p reduction in the multiplier or 30% relief. The sector simply cannot bear the brunt of the planned sky-high cost increases."
The Suffolk Chamber of Commerce welcomed the U-turn but said it should apply to the wider hospitality sector. The chamber warned that "constant government chopping and changing on fiscal policy does little in the longer-term to boost already shaky business confidence," and urged the government to "deliver on its 2024 election manifesto and conduct a wholesale review into replacing the business rates system."
Several Ipswich pub landlords we contacted had not responded by the time of publication.
The details: The Treasury is considering three options for the £300m bailout:
Changing how pub business rates are calculated
Increasing the small business discount beyond the current 5% (the government had legislated for up to 20%)
Reducing the multiplier – the figure used to calculate final bills
Industry leaders say the size of the discount or multiplier reduction will determine whether the package prevents closures or merely delays them.
What's next: The Treasury is expected to announce the bailout within days, likely before Monday's finance bill vote.
Suffolk publicans are waiting to see which relief option the government chooses, and whether it will be enough to prevent closures when the new rates take effect in April.
The other side: The Treasury said its £4.3bn support package means a "typical independent pub will pay around £4,800 less next year than they otherwise would have."
Treasury allies claimed Reeves was "blindsided" by the impact, saying the valuation system "[was] put together by [the] last government." But the government chose to set the Covid discount at 5% despite having the power to maintain it at 20%.
For context: In her Budget speech, Reeves promised "permanently lower tax rates for 750,000 retail and hospitality properties." MPs were briefed to tell constituents rates were falling for small businesses, which industry leaders say was "categorically untrue."
The reality has been stark. UK Hospitality says 89,000 hospitality jobs were lost in the nine months after Reeves's first Budget in 2024, with a further 100,000 at risk. Up to 30,000 hospitality businesses in England could close, with some facing collapse within weeks due to the 31 January tax deadline.
Hotels and live entertainment venues – facing rate increases of 115% and up to 400% respectively – are now demanding inclusion in any bailout package, warning a pub-only solution would leave other sectors to collapse.
The bottom line: The government is scrambling to rescue pubs from its own Budget measures with a £300m package that industry leaders warn must deliver significant rate reductions to prevent mass closures from April.
The U-turn comes just two months after Reeves promised "permanently lower tax rates" for hospitality – leaving Ipswich's 55 pubs and hundreds more across the county waiting to see whether the bailout will be enough to survive.
