In a post shared to social media site TikTok on Thursday 20 February, Kidd, who runs the Half Moon at Kirdford in Billingshurst, West Sussex, said there were “tough, tough times ahead”.
The video comes ahead of the changes to Employer National Insurance contributions (ENICs), set to come into force in April.
Kidd also touched on a number of other issues impacting operators across the sector, including business rates and flexible working hours.
Captioning the video with “tough, tough times ahead”, she said: “This is a lovely time to be in the hospitality industry and to own a pub.
Sad times
“What is Labour doing? They have obviously hiked up National Insurance and business rates tax.
“They are also saying they’re going to shrink the size of a pint and they are clamping down on flexible working hours.
“I thought starting a pub going straight into the pandemic and the cost-of-living-crisis was hard enough but God help us all in the pub industry. Very sad times.”
This comes as pub behemoth JD Wetherspoon recently estimated the increase to ENICs would cost the company an extra £1.2m a week.
Learning curve
In addition, earlier this month, official figures showed the headline rate of inflation had hit a 10-month high.
Kidd took on the Half Moon at Kirdford, which formerly featured on the Top 50 Gastropubs List and holds two AA Rosettes, in 2017 and has since been an advocate for the industry.
Previously, the former model and tv presenter has called for tax cuts for the sector and shown support for the Long Live the Local campaign.
In August last year, Kidd told The Morning Advertiser (The MA) taking on the pub had been rewarding but also a “steep learning curve”.
