The Scottish Beer and Pub Association said 62 pubs closed during the first nine months of 2026
Hospitality groups have called for government action amid warnings almost seven pubs are closing every month in Scotland.
The Scottish Beer and Pub Association (SBPA) found 62 Scottish pubs closed during the first nine months of 2026.
It said this cost an estimated 585 jobs, including 330 held by under 25s, and more than £6 million in tax revenue.
The SBPA is now urging both the UK and Scottish governments to use their upcoming Budgets to back pubs and prevent further closures.
Hospitality owners have also echoed calls for VAT reductions and say they are “fighting a losing battle” as they continue to be “strangled” by UK Government policy.
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The SBPA said the pub closures equate to almost seven pubs a month, around one and a half pubs every week, or a pub closing every four and a half days.
Emma McClarkin, chief executive of the SBPA, said: “When a local pub closes, the impact is felt far beyond its front door.
“These figures should serve as a wake-up call. Pubs want to invest, grow and continue supporting their communities, but many are being pushed to the limit by rising costs and an unsustainable tax burden.
“As we approach both the UK Budget and the Scottish Budget, governments have an opportunity to back one of Scotland’s most important community assets.
“The UK government should build on its support for the sector by freezing beer duty, increasing draught relief, reviewing employment costs for under-25s, and reducing VAT, while the Scottish government should increase business rates relief for pubs and remove the £110,000 per business cap on that support.
“Without meaningful action, we risk seeing more pubs close, more jobs lost and more communities deprived of the economic and social value that pubs provide.”
Nick Watkins owner of El Perro Negro in Glasgow and Edinburgh added: “Currently all SME’s are being strangled by UK Government policy (not just hospitality) unless you are a multi-national who can siphon money overseas via complex tax loopholes and very good accountants. We are fighting a losing battle.
“Firstly VAT should be brought down to 10 per cent, secondly we should be rejoining the single market and finally there needs to be a complete revision of energy bills for both commercial and domestic customers.
“The current trajectory is totally unsustainable but I fear personal interests and egos will be the continued undoing of the country.”
Sean Weeraratna, managing director at the Montpeliers Group, Edinburgh said demand isn’t the problem: “Every pub or bar that closes is a business people were still walking into. The problem isn’t demand.
“It’s that the cost of keeping the doors open has outstripped what any operator can reasonably charge. Between employer National Insurance, rising wages, higher rateable values and 20 per cent VAT, roughly a third of every pound a customer spends goes straight back out in tax before we’ve paid for a single ingredient or a single member of staff.
“As an independent, we don’t have the deep pockets of the big hospitality groups, with sites across the UK to spread these costs. Every increase lands directly on our venues and our people.
“If rising costs keep eating into margins and we can’t see a return, reinvesting becomes much harder to justify. That means fewer refurbishments, fewer new jobs and, ultimately, venues that can’t keep going.”
Pub and restaurant groups operating across Scotland signed an open letter calling for VAT reduction, including The DRG, Glendola Leisure, Greene King, Mitchells and Butlers, Punch Pubs & Co and Signature Pubs.
The letter said: “As leading businesses, chefs and operators across Scotland, we see first-hand the powerhouse nature of Scottish hospitality, nightlife, leisure and tourism.
“But the sector is under enormous pressure. Its tax burden is among the highest in the economy. This financial strain is causing business closures, lost jobs and harm to our communities, which are losing their much-loved local venues.
“We wholeheartedly believe that reducing the rate of VAT for hospitality, bringing it in line with the rest of Europe, is an important step in enabling hospitality businesses to grow the economy, create jobs and support our communities across Scotland. Ten per cent VAT is fair for hospitality.
“Ahead of the UK Budget, we ask that the Scottish Government formally supports our calls for ten per cent hospitality VAT and writes to the Chancellor of the Exchequer and the Treasury urging them to act.”
Martin Luney and Colin Church are the owners of leading Edinburgh-based bar operator and special events company, Big Red Teapot, which includes The Voyage of Buck on William Street in Edinburgh's West End and The Blackbird on Leven Street in Tollcross. They said: "Echoing the majority of European countries - a reduction in VAT for hospitality venues would be a game changer. It would allow prices to stabilise, equipment replaced, more staff to be employed and struggling small businesses to thrive again.
"The idea that we're charged for the sale on food items and we can't claim back the cost of goods on that item as per most other industries is problematic."
Scottish Tory business spokeswoman Rachael Hamilton said: "Far too many of Scotland’s pubs are calling last orders for the final time due to crippling high-tax policies from the SNP and Labour governments.
“From National Insurance hikes to eye-watering business rate rises, both of Scotland’s governments are hammering this sector. Many of these pubs not only provide jobs and help grow the economy, but they are at the heart of communities across the country.
“SNP and Labour ministers must ditch their current approach and ease the burden on Scotland’s struggling pubs in upcoming budgets.”
It comes after a pub in First Minister John Swinney’s Perthshire North constituency blamed government policy for its closure.
Katie Long, who runs Brown and Blacks in Scone, said she was having to call time after her business rates skyrocketed from £19,000 a year to £53,000.
Speaking to The Scotsman last month, she said: “You feel like the government has forced your hand. I should have had better protection from the government so this wasn’t allowed to happen.”
A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “The Scottish Government is determined to drive economic growth, and enable businesses to invest, grow, and create jobs.
“The Scottish Budget 2026-27 supports business and communities with a package of reliefs worth in excess of an estimated £870 million and almost all (96%) of retail, hospitality and leisure businesses in Scotland can benefit from some form of rates relief. The Scottish Government also funds the Small Business Bonus Scheme, to which more than 100,000 properties are eligible, and which remains the most generous scheme of its kind in the UK.
“The Scottish Government has committed to a comprehensive review of non-domestic rates. This will examine improvements and reforms that can be made to the system, working closely with business to ensure the system provides the clarity, incentive and transparency which businesses need.
“Decisions on non-domestic rates and reliefs will be set out as part of the Scottish Budget in the usual manner.”
A spokesperson for HM Treasury said: “We’ve backed Scottish pubs with a tax break on poured pints and capped corporation tax.
“As has always been the case, decisions on tax are a matter for the Chancellor to set out at fiscal events, rather than routinely commenting on rumour, speculation or proposals.”