A FOREST of Dean landlord has said while he welcomes some of the proposals in the government’s planned reform of licensing laws, there are also many drawback which are causing concern.

Kevin Williams of Archie’s Bar in Lydney, said while he welcomes the freedom to open longer hours other proposals are less helpful.

Under the new plans, pubs and bars in England and Wales could see extended opening hours with Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer claiming the review is about "cutting red tape" and "boosting footfall" to support economic growth.

However, Kevin explained that if the proposals allow every bar and pub to extend their licensing hours, there will be little financial benefit for landlords to stay open and little financial growth.

Kevin said: “If you allow everyone to stay open for longer business will be slow for everybody as there’s going to be a lot more competition, which would be an issue for me as a late-night bar. It would also mean I’d have to hire more staff to work nights.”

He added: “There’s also the drawback that I might need to hire door staff if I opened all night. To pay their wages, I may need to raise my prices or add an entry fee to come in - which is no different to city nightclubs.”

The Lydney landlord said he feels it would be more beneficial for the government to focus on reducing the high costs faced by the industry.

“They should start to cut the taxes we pay as it’s costing us a fortune to run a bar. I’m lucky as an independent I’m not linked to any of the breweries which has a positive knock-on effect for customers but even for us in the last few months, we’ve seen more people staying at home. I’m trying to keep my prices as cheap as possible, which I can choose to because I’m not governed by any brewery - but that’s just one person in the town.

“The government could reduce how much VAT we pay. At the end of the day, we’re paying 20 per cent. It’s a lot of money to add on and we’ve got to get that back from the customers who then complain we’re too expensive and they can’t afford to come out because their wages are not rising. If the government dropped the VAT rate, I could reduce some prices and this would benefit the customers.”

However, Kevin did welcome some positive aspects of the proposed licensing reforms. He said: “I’ve got the latest license in town but it would be good to extend my hours to four or five o’clock in the morning as I make most of my money late at night.

“I’m a big believer in 24-hour opening, it would suit me down to the ground to do my 12 hours at night, but I think councils need to work with pubs and pubs need to talk to each other too.”

You can find Archie’s Bar in Lydney, with access via the Newerne Street car park.