The Old Bank of England pub on Fleet Street | Credit: McMullen’s

One of Britain’s biggest pub chains has taken aim at the government’s “damaging” tax hikes, warning they will lead to lower demand and investment and have forced the hospitality sector to “bear the brunt” of rises in government spending.

Hertford-based McMullen’s, which operates around 120 pubs in London and the home counties, including the Old Bank of England on Fleet Street, the Horse and Guardsman on Whitehall and the Lock Tavern in Camden, said there was a “fundamental tension” between rising costs for businesses and the government’s expectation of growth.

Outgoing chairman Charles Brims said the Autumn budget brought about “a tax and cost burden without precedent in the 21st Century” with larger employers “particula

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