Speaking at an industry dinner, Kate Nicholls, chair of UKHospitality (UKH), had strong words for the Chancellor and Government ahead of the Budget crunch date.
“If you don’t back hospitality in the Budget and you crucify us again, as they did in the last Budget, then you’re going to see further blood on the high street.”
Speaking to media, Nicholls highlighted the current plight of the sector: “What we’re seeing at the moment is two site closures a day, in first nine months of the year. A third of businesses cutting their opening hours because they cannot afford staff to open up.
Running out of headroom
“So that’s productivity and economic growth just held back because operators can’t afford to staff up, and two thirds are cutting staff hours and head count as a result of that Budget.”
She said her organisation was focusing their attention on business rates and pointed to the recent re-commitment of the Chancellor to reform business rates and introduce a permanent lower tax.
“It’s fiendishly complicated but if she does anything less than was promised last year you’re going to see those figures, I would suggest, probably double in terms of people running out of headroom.
“People are just holding on in the pub, bar and restaurant sector, just to hear some good music, and if they don’t hear that, those failure rates are just going to accelerate and will be worse than they were in Covid.”
Outside of business rates, the second thing UKH called on the Government to deliver was National Insurance Contributions (NICs) holidays.
Lack of detail
“Can we have NICs exemptions, holidays to get people off welfare into work. I think that is the only way the Chancellor can hope to square the circle between the welfare bill and the aim of 80% employment with what she did to the sector.”
Her final point to Government, outside of the Budget, was calling for a rethink on the employment rights bill, which is currently working its way through the legislative.
She said the lack of detail and drag on implementation was having a significant impact on business confidence and ran counter to Government ambitions around employment.
“You cannot hope to get full employment or 80% employment and have the employment rights go alongside it. Because we’re one to two years off having any of the detail, that’s having a real hit on investment.”
