As the pub sector navigates another year of economic headwinds, The Pub Show will host one of its most timely conversations: ‘Trading Smart: Tackling the post-budget challenges for pubs in 2026’.

Taking place as part of Food, Drink & Hospitality Week at Excel London from 30 March – 01 April 2026, the session, taking place on the Future of Drinks Stage, sits squarely within the show’s 2026 theme, The Power of Us, a recognition that hospitality’s strength lies in collective resilience and shared advocacy.

Moderated by Steve Alton, CEO of the British Institute of Innkeeping (BII), the panel brings together operators Mike Dove and Tommy Higgs of Three Horseshoes, Witney, and Miranda Richardson of The Squirrels, Duston. Together, they will address the stark realities facing pubs in the wake of the latest Budget.

For Mike Dove, the uncertainty is palpable. “I guess it remains to be seen how it will affect us. We are all acutely aware of the business rates debacle and complete lack of acknowledgement regarding a cut to VAT for the hospitality industry post budget,” he says. “We have been facing the same challenges over the past three years, that we are facing in 2026. However, since the debacle of the most recent budget, it is just much more daunting and genuinely worrying for all Publicans.”

Dove is clear that operators have already pushed efficiencies as far as they can. “We have already been monitoring every single cost and identifying where money can be saved. However, we along with virtually all other operators have hit that ceiling of where we can save money without help from the Government.”

Despite running “a very busy and vibrant pub”, he adds, “that does not equate to profit in this current climate. We are being squeezed from every single angle with ever increasing costs.”

Tommy Higgs echoes the frustration, highlighting the cumulative tax burden. “We have been campaigning now for the last nine months alongside the BII and Steve Alton, shouting from the rooftops about the hospitality sector in general being screwed over by our current and prior Governments. VAT, NIC, utilities, glass tax, beer duty, wine duty and everything we get taxed on are slowly becoming issues up and down the country and many pubs are closing their doors every day.”

Yet resilience remains central. “But we are resilient and positive. Myself and Mike work tirelessly alongside Hannah and Amanda on rotas, supplier cost and cross training staff. We will come good, but we need the help we deserve across the sector.”

For Miranda Richardson, the operational shift has been profound. “The budget has fundamentally changed how we operate. It’s no longer just about running a great pub — it’s about survival through constant financial pressure.”

“In 2026, the biggest challenge isn’t footfall. Our communities still want pubs. It’s the cumulative weight of rising costs — VAT at 20%, business rates, energy volatility, national insurance increases, and wage pressures.”

“The irony is that many of us are busier than ever. But being busy doesn’t always translate into being sustainable.”

Alton will bring a national perspective to the debate. “Since the pandemic, pubs have faced challenge after challenge, from Covid debt, energy prices tripling in 2022, consistently high food and drink inflation, affected by international markets and more,” he says. “The latest barriers placed in the way at the 2024 and 2025 budgets, increasing business rates and employment costs to record levels, meant that the pressure placed on our brilliant pubs reached a critical point.”

On solutions, there is striking alignment. Dove is unequivocal: “A cut to VAT for the hospitality, plain and simple. It will kickstart the industry overnight.” Higgs agrees: “We have been screaming about a cut to VAT from the rooftops. It is highest in Europe.”

Richardson adds: “A permanent reduction in VAT for hospitality. That one change would immediately release pressure across the sector.”

And from the BII’s standpoint, Alton stresses the urgency of reducing the overall tax burden, noting that “over 40p in every pound” taken in pubs goes straight to Government.

In a climate where individual operators feel stretched to their limits, Trading Smart promises an honest assessment of what 2026 really looks like on the ground, and why, in the spirit of The Power of Us, collective action may be the sector’s most powerful tool.

'Trading Smart: Tackling the post-budget challenges for pubs in 2026' will take place at 2.10pm on 30 March on the Future of Drinks Stage. 

Find out more about The Pub Show 2026, and register for your free trade ticket, at thepubshow.co.uk.