In an interview with BigHospitality, sister title to the Publican's Morning Advertiser, Penrose said: “One of the things the industry has to do is to work out how it can show that its proposal is different and it has to convince people at the Treasury who are wearily cynical.”
He said the industry needed to show that “while the miners and the farmers and everybody else may be promising the same things, the hospitality industry is better at producing it and better at delivering it”.
“That is a tough ask. I think everybody in the industry understands that but that is the kind of credibility that we have got to establish if we are going to get anywhere with this.”
Penrose rejected calls for a dedicated minister for the hospitality sector, and said the Prime Minister, Chancellor and Culture Secretary were “on side”.
He also revealed that a cross-Whitehall committee is set to meet in the next few weeks to consider the industry’s proposals to reduce red tape , which were included in a report to the Government from a taskforce in January.
Penrose said: “I have what is called a ‘Star Chamber’. It is going to give the red tape no chance at all.”
For more videos on all aspects of the hospitality industry, visit the BigHospitality website.
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