KFC, Wagamama and Big Table Group are among 345 major hospitality businesses that have backed UKHospitality’s call for urgent action to support the sector at the budget.
A letter, backed by a coalition of pubs, restaurants, hotels, bars, leisure parks and visitor attractions said the impact of the last budget had been “immediate, concentrated and socially regressive”.
It added that it left the sector “taxed out”, with more than 80,000 jobs lost in the sector, according to UKHospitality.
Signatories, which include Fuller’s, Greene King, Marston’s and Stonegate Group, are urging the Chancellor to lower business rates by delivering the maximum discount for hospitality properties under £500,000 rateable value and applying no penalty charge to larger hospitality properties.
They are also calling for the government to “fix NICs to boost jobs” through targeted support for employers hiring young people and those returning to work, and to cut VAT on hospitality to drive investment and make the sector “more competitive with European counterparts”.
UKHospitality chair Kate Nicholls said: “This extraordinary coalition demonstrates the united view of hospitality that there needs to be urgent action at the budget.
“The impact of the last budget was devastating. Business closures, job losses, curtailed investment, consumer price rises and lost opportunities for young people are all direct impacts of the choice made to inflict £3.4bn of additional annual cost on our sector. Without action, we will see these impacts continue and intensify.”
She added: “In two weeks’ time, these businesses and the millions of people they employ need to see measures to reduce hospitality’s cost burden and back our sector.”
