Almond Family Pubs mentioned in the House of Commons

A few weeks ago we sat down with our local MP. Last week, that conversation reached the floor of the House of Commons.

Tom Morrison, MP for Cheadle, got in touch because he wanted to hear directly from the people running pubs about the challenges our industry is up against. Over lunch at The Station House in Cheadle Hulme, he sat down with directors James and Doug Almond, general manager Zac, and Niall McCloskey from Joseph Holt.

It was an open and honest conversation about the realities of running community pubs: how hard the current climate makes it for businesses like ours to plan ahead, the need for clarity on business rates, and our support for the #VATsTheProblem campaign for a fairer rate of VAT for hospitality.

Following the visit, Tom raised those concerns in Parliament during a debate on business rates and the hospitality sector on 8 September. Speaking in the Commons, he said:

“I recently visited the Station House in Cheadle Hulme, one of the Almond family’s five pubs in Stockport, and spoke to the owner, Doug, about how hard it was for him to run his business. Like many pub owners across the country, the Almonds welcome the 20% cut in business rates, but they are contending with a system that penalises hospitality.”

That reflects where we stand. Like operators up and down the country, we welcome the 20% cut to business rates. It is a genuine help. But the wider system still makes it harder than it should be to run a pub, and pubs need certainty if they are going to keep investing in their teams and their communities.

Our five pubs support hundreds of local jobs and sit at the heart of the neighbourhoods they serve. We will keep making the case for a fairer deal for hospitality, and we are grateful to anyone, of any party, willing to champion the sector and the people who work in it.