Pierre White backs VAT campaign
Marco Pierre White has voiced his support for the Publican's Morning Advertiser's (PMA's) campaign to cut VAT to 5% across the hospitality industry, claiming it will "save hundreds of businesses from going bust".
Speaking exclusively to the PMA, the celebrity-chef and pub and restaurant owner said he believed the current VAT rate of 20% "was far too aggressive", and called for the trade to unite behind the Thrive on Five campaign.
He said: "I think every publican, restaurateur, hotelier and café owner in the country has a duty to support your campaign. Everybody in the industry should be getting behind you."
Pierre White pointed to France, where VAT across hospitality has been at 5.5% since March 2009, as an example of how a lower rate can boost the sector. "In France, they saw what was happening to businesses and acted," he maintained.
"Lowering the rate, they not only saved jobs, but created jobs as well. Doing the same here would take a lot of young people off the dole. Creating jobs for the young gives us an opportunity to share our knowledge, to share our talents, and to create opportunities for them to better themselves and to have a more secure future.
"It's sometimes difficult for customers to appreciate that 20% of your revenue goes straight to the taxman, yet very few outlets make 20p in the pound. It's time that we stopped strangling the goose that lays the
golden egg."
Pierre White is the first celebrity to endorse the campaign. It already has the support of leading pubcos including JD Wetherspoon, Marston's, Spirit, Mitchells & Butlers, as well as the Campaign for Real Ale, SIBA and the UK Independence Party.
Pierre White has also announced he will be teaming up with Westons to produce a cider version of The Governer ale that he created in a tie-up with JW Lees earlier this year.
• Do you have a celebrity who comes into your pub? Get them to support the campaign. Email zvpuryyr.creergg@jeoz.pbz.
More hosts back Thrive on 5 drive
The Publican's Morning Advertiser campaign to get VAT reduced to 5% — Thrive on 5 — received a boost this week as more licensees voiced their support.
The Facebook group has hit more than 1,300 members who support the campaign, while licensees have been approaching MPs with briefing packs asking for the Government to consider the VAT cut.
Licensee David Morgan, of the Cross Inn, near Maesteg, Mid Glamorgan, spoke to his MP Huw Irranca-Davies about the calls for a VAT cut.
He presented the MP with a VAT briefing document, supplied by the PMA, providing information on the beneficial effects of the lower rate in France.
Morgan said: "I had a good chat with my MP. His first reaction was to say, 'I don't think you have a chance of a VAT cut'. But I handed him the information from France and he seemed interested. He said he will write a letter to the Chancellor and said he would try and get it pushed onto the front-bench.
"My MP didn't know anything about calls for a cut until he saw the document."
His support comes as a letter from the Treasury, seen by the PMA, claimed that the "fiscal challenge" is too great for the Government to consider the reduction in VAT.
David Gauke MP, the minister in charge of tax, said there was no "compelling evidence" for such a decrease.
In France, tax was reduced from 19.65% to 5.5% in restaurants alone, and led to the creation of 21,700 jobs in the first year. French lobbyist Jacques Borel, the man behind the VAT rate for the hospitality sector in France, said a similar cut in the UK would create up to 320,000 jobs.
Take action: Join the campaign
• Download the VAT briefing pack
• Sign the Thrive on Five petition
• Join the debate on the Thrive on Five Facebook Group
• Download Thrive on Five poster (A3)
• Download Thrive on Five poster (A4)
Licensees can download the petitions here. When all your customers have signed up, please return to:
Ewan Turney, the Publican's Morning Advertiser, William Reed Business Media, Broadfield Park, Crawley, West Sussex RH11.
