Tom Kerridge warns VAT crisis threatens pubs and restaurants

If we don't act now, it will be too late. Hospitality businesses, from independent village pubs to family-run hotels, are under siege. Really, our industry is at breaking point. It's been bled dry and used as a scapegoat for wider economic issues. Ones that also need tackling.

Hospitality is one of the country's biggest employers — the third largest behind the NHS and the retail sector — and it contributes billions each year to the Treasury. UKHospitality figures say our industry employs 3.6 million people; we directly contribute £96 billion to the economy annually.

VAT's the Problem campaign launched

Tom Kerridge has joined calls for hospitality businesses to get a VAT cut. He said: "All this is why we've launched VAT's the Problem, a new campaign to see VAT on hospitality businesses reduced from 20 per cent to 10 per cent. It would help support so many businesses under threat and it would help to unleash their potential."

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Kerridge noted that in Italy, France and Spain VAT is 10 per cent, and in Germany it is seven per cent. "I think 10 per cent is fair for hospitality; 20 per cent is not, especially with all the other costs and expenditure we have, from business rates to rising utility bills and rents."

Business rates cut welcomed but VAT remains key

Burnham's business rates cut for pubs and clubs, announced today, is a positive step, but VAT is still a big issue. Hospitality venues are closing at an alarming rate, around 21 every week because of taxes and hikes in business rates, increases in employer National Insurance, and rising energy bills and food inflation.

Kerridge said he is glad Burnham has become Prime Minister because he has backed a cut to VAT. "I think he understands the importance of pubs, restaurants and nightlife. ... I do think our industry should get behind him."

Call for public support

The petition aims to get one million signatures in support of the VAT cut. Kerridge said: "We need the public to get behind us. ... So that ministers act." He is joined in the campaign by Thomasina Miers, Tommy Banks and Yotam Ottolenghi.