Sixty-two pubs closed in Scotland during the first nine months of 2026, according to the Scottish Beer and Pub Association (SBPA). The trade body says the closures removed about 585 jobs and more than £6 million in tax revenue, and it wants both the UK and Scottish governments to use their coming Budgets to help the sector.
The figures work out at almost seven closures a month, or one pub lost roughly every four and a half days. Young workers have taken much of the hit, with the SBPA estimating that 330 of the lost jobs were held by people under 25. Emma McClarkin, the association’s chief executive, said the numbers “should serve as a wake-up call”, arguing that operators want to invest but are held back by rising costs and an unsustainable tax burden. She is asking Westminster to freeze beer duty, increase draught relief, cut VAT and review employment costs for under-25s. From Holyrood, she wants more business rates relief for pubs and the removal of the £110,000 cap on that support for each business.
Operators in Glasgow and Edinburgh describe the same squeeze. Nick Watkins, who owns El Perro Negro in both cities, said “we are fighting a losing battle” and called for VAT to be cut to 10%, a return to the single market and an overhaul of energy bills. Sean Weeraratna, managing director of Edinburgh’s Montpeliers Group, said customers are still coming through the door, but employer National Insurance, wages, higher rateable values and 20% VAT have run ahead of what venues can charge. He estimates that around a third of every pound a customer spends goes to tax before staff or ingredients are paid for.
Larger groups have joined the push. The DRG, Glendola Leisure, Greene King, Mitchells and Butlers, Punch Pubs & Co and Signature Pubs have signed an open letter seeking a 10% VAT rate for hospitality, in line with Europe, and asking the Scottish Government to put that case to the Chancellor before the UK Budget. Scottish Conservative business spokeswoman Rachael Hamilton blamed high taxes under both the SNP and Labour. In Scone, in First Minister John Swinney’s Perthshire North constituency, Katie Long is closing Brown and Blacks after her business rates rose from £19,000 to £53,000 a year.
The Scottish Government said its 2026-27 Budget includes reliefs worth an estimated £870 million or more, that 96% of retail, hospitality and leisure businesses can claim some form of rates relief, and that a full review of non-domestic rates is under way. HM Treasury pointed to a tax break on poured pints and a cap on corporation tax, adding that tax decisions are for the Chancellor to announce at fiscal events.
