50 Leading Hospitality Businesses Call on Chancellor for URGENT Business Rates Support in Budget
Ahead of the upcoming Budget, 50 leading hospitality business have rallied behind UKHospitality, the single, authoritative voice for the hospitality sector, to submit a letter to the new Chancellor Rishi Sunak – calling for urgent support on business rates.
Pub, bar, restaurant and hotel groups including Greene King, Wagamama, Accor, Merlin Entertainment, Pizza Hut and J D Wetherspoon, are calling for immediate action to prevent further damage to a sector which pays more than £3 billion each year in business rates – four times more than it should be under an equitable system.
The full text of the letter, coordinated by UKHospitality, is below and attached.
Kate Nicholls, UKHospitality Chief Executive, comments: “Hospitality is a sector that touches people in communities all across the UK but is being harmed by an outdated business rates system that is simply not fit for purpose. Rising business rates bills mean hospitality businesses don’t have the cash to invest in jobs and revitalising high streets and rural communities. We urge the Chancellor to act at the upcoming Budget to help support the sector.
“The Government must push ahead and fulfil its promise on reform without further delay. We are determined to ensure that a future rates system benefits the hospitality sector, which has been disproportionately hit over the years.”
Quick Stats:
Hospitality businesses overpay on rates by £2.4 billion relative to their economic activity – paying four times more than they should
Hospitality pays 11% of business rates yet makes up 2.5% of business activity
The sector creates £130bn in economic activity and generates £39bn of tax for the Exchequer, funding vital services
Hospitality represents 10% of UK employment, 6% of businesses and 5% of GDP
Hospitality is the 3rd largest private sector employer in the UK; double the size of financial services and bigger than automotive, pharmaceuticals and aerospace combined
LETTER
Rt Hon Rishi Sunak MP
Chancellor of the Exchequer
1 Horse Guards Road
London
SW1A 2HQ
Dear Chancellor,
Hospitality sits at the heart of British communities, across the length and breadth of the country. Our venues host celebrations and social occasions for people from all walks of life while our contract catering feeds schoolchildren, the sick and the elderly. The sector provides employment for one in 10 of the working population and serves Britons in rural and urban areas alike, in the North and the South, and everywhere in between. Hospitality is the face of Britain’s tourism offering to the world.
Yet the sector is being damaged by a broken and archaic tax that penalises these meeting places and social hubs. The sector pays more than £3 billion each year in business rates – four times more than it would be under an equitable system. Hospitality is the most negatively and disproportionately impacted sector of the economy by this tax.
There is a consensus across all sectors that the current tax system is not working fairly, and that there needs to be a move away from business rates. Support and reform will help to sustain and reinvent communities across the country, reversing a decade of decline in many Northern towns and cities, for example. Inaction risks creating ghost towns, lost jobs, lost investment and a drag on the economy.
The urgency for action cannot be overstated: to avoid further damage to hospitality the Government must cut business rates in England in the imminent Budget by 10%, and extend reliefs to more hospitality businesses through the removal of the cap on reliefs and via means unfettered by EU state aid rules. This must be accompanied by an immediate and rapid review of the current system with a commitment to shift the tax burden away from property. These changes will help us to provide the jobs and investment that are critical to the economy and our aim of helping the Government to deliver on its ambitious policy agenda.
Yours sincerely,
Mark Lilley
CEO
Abokado
Thomas Dubaere
COO
Accor Northern Europe
Paul Wigham
Chief Executive
All Our Bars
Paul Kelly
CEO
BALPPA
Wendy Bartlett
Executive Chairman
Bartlett Mitchell
Murray Roberts
Managing Director
Beds & Bars Ltd
Dr Andrew Kemp MBE
Group Sales & Marketing Director
Bidfood
Kris Gumbrell
CEO
Brewhouse & Kitchen
Mary Willcock
Managing Director
Brunning and Price Ltd
Mark Jones
CEO
Carluccio’s
James Spragg
CEO
Casual Dining Group
George Akins
MD
DHP Family
Simon Townsend,
CEO
Ei Group
Cameron Leslie
Co-Founder and Director
Fabric
Simon Emeny
Chief Executive
Fuller, Smith & Turner
Garry Mallen
Owner
G C Mallen
Martin Williams
CEO
Gauchos
Peter Salussolia
Chairman
Glendola Leisure
Nick Mackenzie
CEO
Greene King
Charlie Gilkes
Director & Co-Founder
Inception Group
John Hutson
CEO
JD Wetherspoon
Amanda Newbery
Managing Director
Knightwood Leisure Ltd
Maurice Abboudi
Executive Director
K10 Restaurants
Gavin George
CEO
Laine Pub Company
Andy Townsend
CEO
Legacy Hotels & Resorts Ltd
Meher Nawab
CEO
LHG
Nick Varney
CEO
Merlin Entertainments
Phil Urban
CEO
Mitchells & Butlers plc
Mike Tye
Chairman
MOTO
Ranjit Mathrani
Chairman
MW Eat Ltd
Peter Borg-Neal
CEO
Oakman Inns
Steve Richards
CEO
Parkdean Resorts
Jens Hofma
CEO
Pizza Hut Restaurants UK Ltd
Kevin Sammons
Chairman and Managing Director
Pub People Company
Ben Stackhouse
CEO
PubLove
Roberto Morettia
Chief Operating Officer
Puttshack
Rob Pitcher
CEO
Revolution Bars Group
Gavin Adair
Chief Executive
Rosa's Thai Café
Simon Longbottom
CEO
Stonegate Pub Company
Steve Ball
CEO
The Colombo Group
Peter Marks
Chief Executive
The Deltic Group
Andrew McKenzie
Managing Director
The Vineyard Group
Philip Thorley
Operations Director
Thorley Taverns
Kate Nicholls
CEO
UKHospitality
Emma Woods
CEO
Wagamama
Mark Selby
Co-founder
Wahaca
Henry Birts
CEO
Wasabi Co Ltd
Brian Keeley-Whiting
Managing Director
Whiting & Hammond
Simon Dodd
Chief Operating Officer
Young’s
