Hi, welcome to the John Gaunt podcast. A kind of new mini-series here is called John Gant

Meets. And basically it's me meeting and talking to interesting people. They could be from

the world of politics, the world of sport, the world of leisure. Also one of my favorite

subjects, they could be from the world of pubs and hospitality.

This headline in the Daily Telegraph screamed at me early last week.

It says Britain to lose a pub a day as Labour's tax raid bites.

The government is accused of calling last orders as the industry fears 6,000 jobs will go this year alone.

So I'm asking, is this the end of the British boozer? Is it the end of hospitality?

And if it is, what's caused it? Is it COVID? Is it the N.I Tax rises? Is it the minimum wage? Or is it a combination

of all those things? It's the British Beer and Pub Association, the BBPA, who are predicting

that 378 pubs will shut across England, Wales and Scotland before the end of this year,

and that's up from 350 closures last year. It'll mean that the number of pubs will be at their

lowest level this century. They also state that for every three quid spent on pints that you and I spend in a boozer, either on beer or food, one pound of it goes straight to Rachel Reeves and the government in tax.

This is unsustainable.

If like me, you think pubs, hospitality, restaurants,

if you think that's all part of the fabric of Britain,

we've got to do something to stop this happening.

So I thought I'd have a chat with Rick Kresman,

an old mate of mine,

but he also runs a very,

very successful hotel on the outskirts of Coventry and Birmingham in a place called

Berkswell called Nailcott Hotel, that Nailcott Hall Hotel. It's got a lovely golf course

...