title: "Your pub's business rates are going up on Tuesday. Have you calculated the hit?" slug: pub-business-rates-april-2026 date: 2026-03-28 sector: hospitality tags: [business rates, hospitality, NLW, Fair Work Agency, April 2026, compliance] description: "The 40% Retail, Hospitality and Leisure business rates relief ends April 1. Combined with the NLW rise and Fair Work Agency launch, hospitality is facing its biggest compliance triple-shock in years. Here's what you need to know."

Your pub's business rates are going up on Tuesday. Have you calculated the hit?

Three compliance deadlines are hitting hospitality in the next ten days. Most owners are only aware of one.

Tuesday April 1 brings two simultaneous cost shocks: the National Living Wage rises to £12.71 per hour, and the 40% Retail, Hospitality and Leisure (RHL) business rates discount ends — permanently. Then on April 7, the Fair Work Agency launches with hospitality as its stated primary enforcement target.

If you run a pub, restaurant, café or hotel, here's what you're walking into.

---

Business Rates: The Discount That's Gone for Good

Since 2022, hospitality businesses have benefited from an emergency 40% discount on their business rates bills — the RHL relief. It was introduced during COVID. It survived long after COVID ended. Many hospitality owners now budget for it as a permanent fixture.

It isn't. From April 1, it's gone.

The replacement is a permanent new multiplier system:

• Small venues (rateable value under £51,000): multiplier of 38.2p in the pound
• Standard/medium venues (£51,000–£499,000): multiplier of 43p in the pound

Here's the problem: the new multiplier rates are lower than the old standard rates — but the 40% discount is no longer applied on top. For many businesses, the net result is a higher bill, not a lower one.

Run the numbers for your venue:

Annual rates = Rateable Value × multiplier

A pub with a rateable value of £80,000 was previously paying: £80,000 × 49.9p × 60% (after 40% discount) = £23,952/year

From April 1: £80,000 × 43p = £34,400/year

That's an additional £10,448 per year. Starting Tuesday.

The Pub and Live Music Venue Relief — Claim It

One piece of good news: pubs and live music venues are eligible for an additional 15% reduction under the new system. This is not automatic — you need to claim it through your local council. If you haven't already done this, do it this week.

Even with the 15% reduction, many venues will still see a net increase compared to last year's bills. The 40% discount was simply too large to offset.

---

National Living Wage: April 1 Too

On the same day as the rates change, the National Living Wage rises from £12.21 to £12.71 per hour.

For hospitality — one of the UK's largest low-wage employers — the impact is immediate and significant:

• A 20-person team working full time: +£20,800/year in base wage costs
• Junior workers (18–20): rise from £10.00 to £10.71/hr
• Apprentices and under-18s: also see increases

Combined with the business rates shock, a mid-sized venue with 15 staff and a £100k rateable value could be looking at over £25,000 additional annual costs starting this week.

---

Fair Work Agency: April 7

Nine days after the rates and wage changes, the Fair Work Agency formally launches as the UK's new employment enforcement body.

It consolidates enforcement that was previously split across three agencies:

• HMRC's National Minimum Wage team
• The Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority (GLAA)
• Employment Agency Standards

Crucially, the FWA also enforces Statutory Sick Pay and holiday pay — areas previously handled patchily if at all.

Hospitality is explicitly the primary enforcement target for Year One.

Why hospitality? Because it has the highest documented rate of NMW underpayment in the UK economy. And because from April 6, SSP becomes a day-one right — meaning even zero-hours workers who fall ill on their first shift are entitled to Statutory Sick Pay. Most hospitality operators are not prepared for this.

The FWA has powers to:

• Inspect premises and payroll records
• Issue unlimited civil fines
• Name employers publicly on a government register
• Recover arrears directly on behalf of workers
• Refer cases for criminal prosecution

There is no grace period. Enforcement begins April 7.

---

Your April Checklist

Before Tuesday:

• Calculate your new business rates bill (RV × new multiplier)
• Apply for the 15% pub/live music relief if eligible
• Update payroll to £12.71/hr for all affected workers
• Recalculate your wage budget for the year

Before April 6:

• Update your absence policy (SSP now day one, not day four)
• Check your payroll software has updated SSP defaults
• Confirm zero-hours staff are included in SSP calculations

Before April 7:

• Audit tipping records — FWA enforcement covers the Tips Act (October 2024) from day one
• Confirm holiday pay records are maintained for all workers (mandatory from April 6)
• Ensure written tipping policy is in place and up to date

---

The Compliance Picture Is Getting Complex

These aren't one-off changes. The UK regulatory environment for hospitality is entering a sustained period of higher complexity:

• Tips Act Phase 2 (October 2026): written tipping policy must be consulted on with staff before changes; £5,000 per worker tribunal risk
• Martyn's Law (~April 2027): venues with 100+ capacity need counter-terrorism preparedness procedures and staff training
• ICO enforcement: data breach fines now average £2.8m in healthcare — the pattern of tougher enforcement is spreading

Staying on top of every moving deadline manually is increasingly untenable for small businesses.

---

ComplianceAlert Monitors This For You

ComplianceAlert monitors all UK hospitality regulations — business rates changes, employment law updates, FWA enforcement, tips legislation, and more — and sends you alerts when something changes that affects your business.

£19/month. No long-term contract. Cancel anytime.

If three compliance shocks in ten days is too much to track manually, that's exactly what we're here for.

👉 Start your free trial at compliancealert.co.uk

---

ComplianceAlert is a UK regulatory monitoring service for small and medium businesses. We track HSE, HMRC, ACAS, Companies House, and 13 other regulators so you don't have to.