Hello and welcome to Run Down, a podcast from Politics Home with me Alan Tolhurst.

With the comments in recess, we thought it was a good time, take the pod down the pub again.

For another episode, look at the UK's hospitality industry and the struggles it continues to face,

with a host of global headwinds and domestic policy

contributing to a bleak outlook for pubs and the rest of the sector in 2025.

As you might be able to hear, we're not in the studio for this one.

We've headed to the Westminster Arms, just the side of Parliament Square from the Palace of Westminster,

to grab a pint and discuss what government can do to help this crucial part of the economy.

It only contributes 54 billion pounds in tax receipts. It's the third largest employer in the UK, but also plays a vital

role in the country's social fabric. On the panel this week, we have Concertive MP Richard Holden,

Vice Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on pubs and the Shadow Paymaster General,

Morgan Schondelmeyer, policy manager on tax and trade at the British Beer and Pupp Association. Ellie Hudspeth, campaigns manager for camera, the campaign for rural ale.

Steve Alton, CEO of the British Institute of Inkeeping, and Johnny Garrett,

chair at the British Guild of Beer Writers and co-host of the Craft Beer Channel.

So I'm going to start with you, Ellie. This is the third year we've done one of these episodes.

The only person to have been on all three, obviously very committed to it. But the first one we did in

2003 was coming out of the pandemic, an industry that had been really hammered during that time,

was dealt another blow by the kind of cost of living crisis. Kate Nichols from UK Hospitality

who was on that year, saying that it called it kind of a perfect storm. I think two years later that storm hasn't really kind of calmed down.

What are the kind of the pressures facing the industry now at the moment?

Thanks, Alan. Thanks having me back.

Sorry, anytime.

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