I visited most f***ed pub in my home city – what’s happening is heartbreaking | UK | Travel

As you step into the Spread Eagle in Wandsworth, it’s not immediately apparent that it’s f***ed.

Indeed, it appears to be a perfectly pleasant pub. The bar staff are cheerful, the Guinness is superb and the establishment is generally spotless. It’s early on a Thursday evening in January, but the punters are present in respectable numbers. A sandwich board outside promises Six Nations matches will arrive in a fortnight to lift the winter’s spirits.

The Spread Eagle is the sort of pub that provides a little something for everyone. During my visit, there was a solitary gentleman reading a book whilst enjoying one of the menu’s ‘traditional pub classics’; two mothers cradling their youngsters; and a group of marketers discussing Q2 strategy.

Whilst peaceful enough on a Thursday evening, I sense that the Spread Eagle transforms into quite a bustling venue on a Saturday night when the rugby enthusiasts descend. Though probably not so boisterous as to disturb the guests staying overnight in the 21 ‘eclectically’ furnished rooms upstairs. 

All in all, it is an attractive establishment that serves three regular cask-conditioned ales and boasts ‘an historic pub interior of national importance’, according to CAMRA. It’s not remotely obvious that the Spread Eagle is f***ed, but it is.

Actually, according to a recent study, it is the most f***ed pub in the entirety of London. The Young’s-operated establishment has been awarded that unfortunate distinction by Ben Guerin, a digital communications specialist and coder who has created ismypubf***ed.com.

“My friends and I were talking about where to go to the pub, we said we should go to somewhere that’s been affected by the changes. We both run businesses and have been affected. I had the idea on Thursday morning at 11am, had the website live at 7pm. It takes a spreadsheet from 2023, which has every single business in the UK, and another from 2026. You can group those together to work out the change. More than 42,000 pubs were analysed, of those, 78% or 80% were facing increases. 12% were either f***ed or absolutely f***ed, meaning their increase has doubled or more between 2023 and 2026,” Ben explained.

Looking at business rates alone, the Spread Eagle finds itself in a particularly dire position. Its rateable value is set to surge by 622%, rising from £16,750 in 2023 to £121,000 this year, driving its annual tax bill up by 833% to £46,452, according to Ben’s examination of publicly available data.

Whilst the Spread Eagle faces the steepest percentage increase in London, it represents just one of 5,000 pubs nationwide confronting a doubling of property tax.

Last week, the head of the Valuation Office Agency informed MPs that 13 per cent of pubs – totalling 5,100 establishments – have been subjected to a 100 per cent increase in their so-called ‘rateable value’, which determines their business rates bill. The typical pub is set to pay an additional £1,400 annually, climbing to £12,900 over a three-year period.

Establishments facing the steepest increases in property tax valuations will see even larger hikes. The Bertie Arms in Stamford, Lincolnshire, confronts a nearly 2,000% rise – the highest in the nation.

Katie and James Genever, landlords of the Grade II-listed thatched village pub, informed the Telegraph that the change would virtually eliminate their profits entirely. “It just feels like we are being targeted and come at from every angle. Hospitality is being whacked from all sides and used as a cash cow,” Ms Genever said.

The bleak financial outlook facing numerous pubs cannot be overstated. A UK Hospitality report has cautioned that six establishments will shut their doors daily this year without intervention – totalling more than 2,000. This significantly exceeds the 378 closures in 2025, according to the Institute for Licensing. The British Beer and Pub Association fears pubs will need to shift an additional 1.3 billion pints of beer annually to counterbalance soaring taxes.

For Ben, who relocated from New Zealand to the UK approximately a decade ago, the precarious condition of the Great British pub represents a significant worry.

“Pubs are the heart of the local community. One of the things I’ve always loved about the UK in general. Everyone has a charm and heritage. Whether standing out on a pavement on a cold, wet January, or sitting in a beer garden in the summer. It’s really sad so many of them have been shutting down in recent years,” he said.

Following weeks of intense campaigning from pub supporters, Labour now appears set to reverse course on rates increases and provide some relief to pubs that have been hit by a damaging combination of cost pressures in recent years including: a rise in employers’ national insurance, the minimum wage, energy bills, business rates, inflation, new workers’ rights legislation and an increase in alcohol duty.

The government is anticipated to unveil reforms to how it calculates business rates for pubs in the coming days, which it claims will help cushion the significant increases that the majority of the struggling sector encountered following the Budget.

According to several reports, Treasury officials have acknowledged that its reform of business rates – the commercial equivalent of council tax – resulted in many local pubs facing a substantial increase in their overall bill, despite the hospitality sector technically being offered a 5p reduction.

At November’s Budget, the Chancellor reduced the business rate discounts that businesses have benefited from since the pandemic. It also confirmed the outcome of a long-awaited reassessment of so-called rateable values, a central government estimate for the amount of rent a premises will pay annually, which left pubs throughout the country confronting considerably higher bills.

Emma McClarkin, chief executive of the British Beer and Pub Association, welcomed the government’s decision to reverse the business rates increases, describing it as a “huge win for pubs across the country”. She continued: “This could save locals, jobs, and means publicans can breathe a huge sigh of relief. The BBPA has worked closely with ministers on a pub-specific solution that would ensure that bills are reduced in line with the government’s previous promise to pubs.”

Young’s declined to comment.