UK pubs secure extended licensing for takeaway pints in boost to pandemic-era sales recovery efforts

Pubs in England and Wales will be able to continue selling takeaway pints after the government decided to maintain licensing rules from the pandemic era.

When businesses were forced to close in 2020 to stop the spread of Covid-19, customers could still be served through hatches thanks to the relaxed regulations.

The rules were set to expire in September, but according to a report in the Sun on Sunday (13 August), Rishi Sunak has decided to extend them.

The Prime Minister said: “I’ve heard the British pub industry loud and clear – takeaway pints are a boost for their businesses and our economy. That’s why they’re here to stay.”

The move, which was intended to aid the crippled hospitality industry in boosting sales during the pandemic, has already been extended twice.

It means that businesses won't have to approach local councils to request the additional licence required for off-site sales.

Many pubs and bars have found it difficult to recover after the pandemic due to rising energy and other costs, as well as worries about declining sales in the midst of the cost-of-living crisis.

The intervention comes after Sunak was heckled during a visit to a beer festival where he was seeking to promote a shake-up of the alcohol duty regime that will increase tax on a range of drinks.

He has insisted the reforms centre on “backing British pubs” and that businesses and consumers will benefit, despite the increases on wine, vodka and canned beer.

First set out by Sunak when he was chancellor in 2021, the new system aims to encourage drinkers to cut back by taxing all alcohol based on its strength.

Whisky distillers described the changes as a “hammer blow” and brewers warned of a tax hike on bottles and cans but the Prime Minister said the overhaul was “the most radical simplification of alcohol duties for over 140 years”, enabled by Britain’s exit from the EU.