We will be bringing you live updates on measures impacting the sector.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves will present the Spring Statement 2025 in the Houses of Commons today (Wednesday 26 March).
Ahead of the fiscal address, voices from across the sector have repeatedly urged Reeves to provide targeted support for hospitality as firms continue to battle rising costs.
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1:58PM - BBPA: Statement shows ‘alarming lack of plan’
The British Beer & Pub Association (BBPA) has responded to the fiscal address.
BBPA CEO Emma McClarkin said: “The Spring Statement was the perfect chance to sow the seeds of growth but Government missed the opportunity, has not listened to business, and we can now expect to see prices rise, jobs at risk, and growth downgraded.
“For a Government whose mission is growth, there is an alarming lack of a plan to boost the economy, given they’ve buried brewers and pubs under mountains of regulations, rates, and taxes.
“Time is of the essence, so if Government truly wants to unlock growth and support jobs they must reform business rates, deregulate, review the new chaotic and punishing EPR fees, and phase in employment costs.”
1:43PM - Statement ‘missed opportunity’ to avoid April cliff edge
With a number of bills set to rise in April, UKHospitality (UKH) has said the Statement was a “missed opportunity” to avoid a “cliff edge” for many business.
Previously, the trade body estimated the rise in bills, including National Insurance contributions, would cost the sector £3.4bn.
UKH chief executive Kate Nicholls said: “If the Government is serious about getting Britain working, it needs hospitality. When we were backed after the financial crash and the pandemic, we proved how we can help drive economic recovery.
“There is still time for the Chancellor to act and avert this disaster. Now is the time to back hospitality.”
1:21PM - Lord: ‘This is not the Labour I voted for’
Former night-time economy adviser for Greater Manchester and chair of the Night-Time Industries Association (NTIA), Sacha Lord, has this is not the Labour Government he voted for.
Responding to the Statement, Lord said: “Living standards down, investment down, growth down, confidence down. This is not a viable plan for the hardest working in our society and not the Labour I voted for.
“Despite the majority of small businesses already making cuts to stabilise themselves ahead of next month’s tax hikes, job losses will be inevitable from April. I fear that in a bid to grow the economy, we’re growing anxiety and unemployment instead.
“These aren’t just numbers on a spreadsheet, these are real people, real livelihoods and it’s clear many small firms feel left behind, with little support and no real understanding of where we are heading.”
1:16PM - Business confidence at ‘lowest level on record’
In response to the Spring Statement, shadow Chancellor Mel Stride has said business confidence has hit the “lowest level on record” and urged Reeves to provide assurance the Autumn Budget would not include further tax rises.
Stride also called the address an “emergency budget”, adding inflation is still too high and that the real “black hole” in the economy is not the one “invented” by the Chancellor but rather the one she “created.”
1:12PM - Statement offered ‘no solace’ for sector
British Institute of Innkeeping (BII) chief executive Steve Alton has said the Spring Statement offered no solace for the sector.
In a post shared to X, Alton said: “The Spring Statement from the Chancellor offers no solace to our embattled members independently operating pubs in every community.
“They now face a wall of taxes next week that will stop investment, reduce staff hours & skilled jobs and drive increased prices.”
1:09PM - Reeves commends Statement to House
The Chancellor has now completed her address in the House of Commons.
Reeves concluded the Statement saying she was “impatient for growth” but that things “were changing” under the Labour Government.
1:07PM - ‘More money in the pockets of working people’
Household disposable income has been predicted to grow twice as fast as first thought in the Autumn
The OBR has said today that people will on average be £500 better off under this Labour Government, Reeves has said.
1:05PM - 2% inflation target will be met by 2027
Reeves has said the Government must work closely with the Bank of England to tackle economic uncertainty and meet the Monetary Policy Committee’s 2% inflation target.
She suggested that inflation will achieve this by 2027, adding this would give the economy a “stable platform to grow”.
1:03PM - Growth figures ‘not satisfactory’
The OBR has revised the UK’s growth forecast for 2025 from 2% to 1%.
Reeves has said she is “not satisfied with these figures” but that the Government is focused on measures to grow the economy, adding there are “no shortcuts to economic growth” and that it will “take time” to feel the impact of the measures announced.
12:53 - Crackdown on tax evasion
Reeves has pledged to crackdown on tax evasion.
She said while there would be no tax increases in the statement, as promised at the Autumn Budget, the party will go further to tackle tax evasion.
In addition, she said when working people are paying their taxes, it is not right others are avoiding doing so.
The Chancellor claimed Labour would increase the number of tax fraudsters charged each year by 20%.
She added the change would take total revenue raised from reducing tax evasion to £7.5bn, as verified by the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR).
12:41PM: Autumn budget measures ‘non-negotiable’
Reeves has said the measures set out in the Autumn Budget are “non-negotiable”.
In addition, she asserted Labour would commit to one major fiscal event per year, the Autumn Budget, adding the “mini budgets” held by previous Government results in higher bills.
“It was not the wealthy who suffered most when they crashed the economy, it was working people, and they continue to feel the impact two years on“, she said.
12:34PM - Chancellor begins address
Reeves begins her statement saying she is “proud” of what the Government has achieved over the past nine months, adding Labour’s mission is to continue to secure the future of the UK economy.
12:33PM - PMQs comes to a close
Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQs) has now come to a close. The Spring Statement is due to take place shortly after.
10:30AM - Kate Nicholls calls for delay to NI changes
Speaking with BBC Breakfast before the Statement this afternoon, UKHospitality (UKH) chief executive Kate Nicholls called for a delay to changes to the National Insurance threshold.
She said: “We’ve got a £3.4 billion tax hit coming into the hospitality sector. That’s changed the world out of all complexion for businesses in the sector.”
9:00AM: Sector ‘not expecting’ big changes
Ahead of the announcement, UKHospitality (UKH) chief executive Kate Nicholls said the trade body was “not expecting big tax changes” today.
Speaking at the MA Leaders Club conference in York earlier this month, Nicholls explained UKH had been working with the Government prior to the Spring Statement.
She continued: “We’re not expecting to [see] big tax changes or tax policy coming through but we are continuing to push to see if we can get that NIC threshold reduction postponed for a year reversed, and see if we can get the business rates relief brought forward more quickly so we can have businesses supported.
“Failing that, [we have been] looking at other areas the Government could work with us on to be able to make sure we have a supportive fiscal and regulatory environment for the businesses to be able to go through.
“That we have some kind of breathing space into the P&L for the course of this year and trying to make sure they understand the challenges we’ve got in managing that process.”
She added: “Now, just as an expectation management this is a Spring Statement, it’s not a Spring Budget. It isn’t an interventionist measure. It’s not a time when you would look to see tax cuts and tax breaks, it’s an update on the economic circumstances.”
