Butlin’s, Greene King, IHG Hotels & Resorts, KFC and Merlin Entertainments are among the 345 signatories of an open letter to the chancellor calling on her to support hospitality businesses in the Autumn Budget.
Organised by UKHospitality, the letter says the impact of the 2024 Autumn Budget was “immediate, concentrated and socially regressive”, with the sector “taxed out” and over 80,000 jobs lost.
The letter, signed by pubs, restaurants, hotels, bars, leisure parks, visitor attractions and more, calls on the government to lower business rates by delivering the maximum discount for hospitality properties under £500,000 rateable value and applying no penalty charge to larger hospitality properties which are such important community and cultural assets.
It also says Rachel Reeves should “fix NICs to boost jobs, through targeted support for employers hiring young people and those returning to work” and “cut VAT on hospitality to drive investment and make us more competitive with European counterparts”.
Kate Nicholls, chair of UKHospitality, said:
“This extraordinary coalition demonstrates the united view of hospitality that there needs to be urgent action at the Budget.
“From pubs, restaurants and hotels to leisure parks, visitor attractions and contract catering, hospitality is being taxed out.
“The impact of the last Budget was devastating. Business closures, job losses, curtailed investment, consumer price rises and lost opportunities for young people are all direct impacts of the choice made to inflict £3.4 billion of additional annual cost on our sector. Without action, we will see these impacts continue and intensify.
“In two weeks’ time, these businesses and the millions of people they employ need to see measures to reduce hospitality’s cost burden and back our sector.
“Hospitality is clear: lower business rates, fix NICs and cut VAT to support hospitality, affect change on our high streets and support the renewal of the country.”
The full hospitality letter to the chancellor ahead of the Autumn Budget
Dear chancellor,
We are writing in advance of your forthcoming Budget as a sector united behind one
message: deliver change for hospitality at this Budget so that we can get back to growth.
Nothing shapes society’s sense of whether their country is on the right path like the health of hospitality and the high street. Vibrant community centres unlock consumer confidence and create meaningful jobs, particularly for those aged 18-24, who the Resolution Foundation have said are at risk of being priced out of entry into the labour market. We are at the heart of the economic and social recovery of our country.
But the last Budget left our sector taxed out. Today, hospitality has the highest tax bill in the economy. The impact has been immediate, concentrated, and socially regressive. Over 80,000 jobs have been lost and nearly 6 in 10 hospitality businesses are pessimistic about the sector’s prospects over the next year, negatively affecting jobs and investment.
Many businesses have either closed or cancelled planned expansion. Young people and those who work part time have seen their opportunities narrow and the benefit bill has grown as a result. Towns and rural and coastal areas have been hit harder than the big cities due to the prevalence of hospitality. Consumer prices have risen.
We are asking for urgent action at the Budget, so we can support your goals to get young
people and the economically inactive into work, regenerate high streets and boost tourism
and, ultimately, drive economic growth.
We urge you to:
- Lower business rates to revive high streets, by delivering the maximum discount for
hospitality properties under £500,000 rateable value and applying no penalty charge to
larger hospitality properties which are such important community and cultural assets. - Fix NICs to boost jobs, through targeted support for employers hiring young people and
those returning to work. - Cut VAT on hospitality to drive investment and make us more competitive with European
counterparts.
Our objectives are shared – to support the renewal of the country. We hope that you recognise the power of hospitality and tourism to affect change on our high streets and in our communities, and take action to support hospitality at the Budget.