Hilton, Butlins left fuming over business rates snub July 24, 2026 Hilton and Butlins have been left fuming after being snubbed by Andy Burnham’s pledge to slash business rates for pubs, clubs and music venues. The two hospitality giants said that hotels and resorts have been unfairly ignored by successive government interventions to cut the business rates bills of hospitality firms. Stephen Cassidy, senior vice president [...]
‘Dwarfed by other costs’ – Why cutting business rates for pubs won’t save the sector July 24, 2026 Andy Burnham has unveiled his long-awaited support for the UK’s struggling pubs, but the hospitality industry is contending with far more pressures than just business rates Andy Burnham’s pledge to cut business rates for pubs, clubs and music venues is expected to save each venue more than £1,000 next year in a move that comes [...]
‘Ever-widening gap’: Wetherspoon boss Tim Martin urges Burnham to cut more pub taxes July 23, 2026 JD Wetherspoon boss Tim Martin has called on the Prime Minister to go further to reduce the soaring tax burden faced by pubs. The chairman of the UK’s best-known pub chain said Burnham’s decision to slash business rates for pubs is an “implicit recognition that the hospitality sector is over taxed”. The Prime Minister announced [...]
Burnham set for crunch decision on JP Morgan’s £10bn tower July 16, 2026 Andy Burnham’s government will face a crunch decision on the future of JP Morgan’s flagship tower in Canary Wharf as it weighs whether to uphold a major tax break for the project despite opposition from industry groups. The next Chancellor will serve as the final arbiter on the framework of a business rates exemption for [...]
Burnham risks ‘breaking manifesto’ without business rates reform July 14, 2026 Andy Burnham has been warned that he risks breaking Labour’s manifesto if he does not go further in his plans to overhaul the business rates system. The Prime Minister-to-be has been urged by hospitality and retail industry figures to expand his plans to modify a business rates system which they say unfairly disadvantages high street [...]
Burnham urged to go further to fix ‘broken’ business rates July 14, 2026 Incoming Prime Minister Andy Burnham must broaden his plans to reform the “broken and unsustainable” business rates system, hospitality and retail industry leaders have warned. The former mayor of Greater Manchester has already pledged to slash business rates for high street firms but a coalition of trade bodies has urged him to go further. Ros [...]
Burnham’s high street tax plan carries £880m price tag July 6, 2026 Andy Burnham’s plans to overhaul business rates in favour of Britain’s high streets could cost around £880m a year, according to new analysis, as questions mount over how the Labour leadership frontrunner would pay for one of his first major tax reforms. Forecasts by global tax firm Ryan suggest Burnham’s proposal to expand Small Business [...]
‘Not all sunlit uplands’: Pub bosses weigh in on whether Brexit leaves a bitter taste June 23, 2026 A decade on from the referendum, has Brexit left a bitter taste? The bosses of the UK’s biggest pub firms have their say Notoriously outspoken, the bosses of the UK’s leading pub brands are usually shouting about the same thing: the tax and regulatory burden threatening watering holes across the country. But, on the anniversary [...]
Would a £10bn VAT cut really save hospitality? June 20, 2026 Calls for the government to slash VAT on hospitality firms have been backed by pub and restaurant bosses, and Prime Minister hopeful Andy Burnham. What would this tax break really mean for the economy? The UK’s pubs, hotels and restaurants say they are at breaking point. Higher business rates, hikes to national insurance and minimum [...]
Tories pledge to slash tax and red tape in ‘alternative King’s Speech’ May 10, 2026 The Tories have set out their vision for the UK economy, pledging to slash taxes and red tape to “back innovation, entrepreneurship and growth”. Kemi Badenoch’s party has said it would slash welfare spending, scrap business rates for high street business and repeal Labour’s workers’ rights reforms. The Conservatives have published their “alternative King’s Speech,” [...]