'Government should support rural pubs'

By clwilson

Rik Lyall owns the Griffin, in Milk Street, Frome.

The Griffin is both a brewery and a pub, which he says gives him the added advantage of being able to see the state of the industry from both sides of the coin.

He says there is no doubt that the industry as a whole is going through a drastic adjustment and that the blame for the pub crisis should sit squarely at the door of the Government.

"I put the blame with the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Alistair Darling," he said.

"The latest duty increase was an eight per cent rise in the tax, meaning duty has now risen 17 per cent this year and the chancellor has already pledged to increase duty by two per cent more than inflation next March.

"In 12 months, it will mean duty will have risen by 10 per cent. Although he has been widely reported as helping small businesses, this increase in duty will more than swallow up any reduction in VAT."

Mr Lyall added that with this increase and the massive increases in malt and hops due to poor harvests, costs from the brewers' perspective have increased dramatically.

"From the publicans' point of view, trade post the smoking ban has taken a hit.

"In addition, two poor summers have meant that publicans have not been able to build up cash reserves during what should be peak trade time.

"Rising costs and falling trade have been the final nail for many pubs.

"The Griffin is very unusual in that it doesn't sell any lager and hasn't done for nine years, but it does sell good beer and has live music."

Mr Lyall would like to thank his loyal customers and welcome any new ones to come and take a look at somewhere a bit different.