Wages
A 4.1% rise in national living wage (NLW) came into effect on Wednesday 1 April, meaning businesses now have to pay a full-time worker on this rate an additional £900 a year while for employees on national minimum wage (NMW), this is £1,500 more.
Overall, the wage rises are estimated to cost £1.4bn in additional costs for the sector, according to UKHospitality.
Employment rules
Major alterations to the Employment Rights Bill also came to fruition this month.
Employment solicitor Lydia Button at Thackray Williams previously outlined what this means for operators at The Morning Advertiser’s MA Leaders conference (March).
One of these changes is around statutory sick pay (SSP). As of 6 April, all employees are eligible for SSP from day one of sickness. In addition, the rate of SSP is set at whichever is the lower of 80% of earnings or at the flat rate, which is £123.25 a week.
Furthermore, paternity became a ‘day one right’ from the same date, permitting employees to give notice of leave from the first day of employment whereas previously, they must have worked for their employer for 26 weeks.
Also under the bill, sexual harassment became a ‘qualifying disclosure’ under whistleblowing law.
This means protection from detriment and unfair dismissal for whistleblowers making a sexual harassment disclosure.
Operators reacted to the changes, stressing the rules could create new operational pressures for the sector.
Business rates
The new revaluation cycle came into force on Wednesday 1 April. Analysis from global tax firm Ryan showed the increase is equivalent to a 10.1% rise.
The removal of the retail, hospitality and leisure relief, previously worth about £1.4bn in England, was not extended into 2026/27 but replaced with lower multipliers, funded partly through a new 2.8p surtax on higher value properties.
Previous research conducted a few days after Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ Budget last year by Oxford Partnership showed more than 85% of pubs face higher business rates from this month.
Inheritance tax
New rules around inheritance tax are now in place. This includes reform to Business Property Relief (BPR) - changes law firm Taylor Rose stated were “the most significant in decades”.
Under the new changes (from Monday 6 April), 100% BPR is capped at £2.5m of qualifying business and agricultural assets combined per individual.
Any value above that cap will receive 50% relief, which means the remaining half becomes subject to 40% inheritance tax, which Taylor Rose esitmated would mean an effective 20% tax charge on larger estates.
Family-run Oak Taverns managing director Simon Collinson previously told The Morning Advertiser the lack of clarity around the tax was an “absolute nightmare”.
