Bar boss quits Labour’s hospitality group after tax concerns August 23, 2025 A top boss of a British bar chain has quit a government hospitality taskforce after facing pressure over his criticism of Rachel Reeves’ tax agenda. Alex Reilley, the chairman of Loungers, has exited the Hospitality Sector Council (HSC) after receiving backlash from civil servants for publicly criticising Labour’s economic policies, The Telegraph reported. “I was [...]
One in five hospitality firms have no cash reserves after tax raid August 20, 2025 A fifth of British hospitality businesses have no cash reserves left and nearly eight in 10 have raised prices as they battle to shoulder the succession of cost hikes placed on them at last year’s autumn Budget. Fresh data from four of the sector’s trade bodies showed that 69 per cent of members have less [...]
Soho House: How billionaire Tyler Morse and his former boss are buying up London August 19, 2025 Soho House marked the end of its four-year spell on the Nasdaq this week after it reached an agreement to be taken private by US hotel giant MCR in a $2.7bn (£2bn) deal. The swish members’ club, which was founded in Soho’s Greek Street by restauranteur Nick Jones in 1995, has grown into a sprawling [...]
Budget: Growing concern gambling tax could impact hospitality August 19, 2025 There is growing concern that the potential gambling tax levied by Rachel Reeves and the Treasury could have a knock on effect into the hospitality industry. A levy that would see bookies forced to pay a hiked tax sum, to bring them in line with online casinos and gaming sites, could be catastrophic for sports [...]
More than 200 pubs closed in six months amid tax hikes August 18, 2025 Eight pubs a week shut their doors for good across the UK over the first half of the year amid rising tax and labour costs, according to new figures. Industry bosses said it is “heartbreaking” and highlighted the need for supportive tax measures from the Treasury in the autumn budget. Official Government statistics show 209 [...]
Dishoom warns that Brits’ low incomes pose risk for hospitality August 13, 2025 Dishoom has warned that the dual effects of still-low disposable income in the UK and tax rises in last autumn’s Budget present a short-term risk to British hospitality. The iconic restaurant business added that these factors may be exacerbated by “a possible slowdown in economic growth”. Confidence in the UK’s hospitality sector has been in [...]
Kensington Roof Gardens plunges to £26m loss August 13, 2025 The company behind the revamped Kensington Roof Gardens suffered a £26m loss after the venue reopened as a private members’ club, its latest accounts reveal. The grade-II listed former nightclub, situated on London’s swanky Kensington High Street, unveiled plans to launch as a members’ club in February last year, offering annual memberships of up to [...]
Hospitality sector on brink of claims crisis as Employment Bill looms August 12, 2025 The hospitality and leisure sector is already experiencing a rising number of Employment Tribunal claims, a situation likely to worsen further when the Bill becomes law.
Simmons: Bar chain owed millions to OakNorth, tax collectors before entering administration August 6, 2025 Simmons owed millions of pounds in debts to OakNorth bank and tax collectors before it was put into administration, fresh corporate documents have revealed. The London-based cocktail bar chain has made at least 30 staff redundant alongside closing several sites as founder Nick Campbell battled to secure rescue funding to buy the company in a [...]
We are governed by people who don’t know what they’re doing August 6, 2025 Almost 100,000 jobs in the hospitality sector have disappeared since the government unveiled its hike to employers’ National Insurance Contributions, and lowered the threshold at which it is paid. Employers have also had to contend with a rise in the minimum wage amid a storm of other headwinds including inflation, energy costs and generally weak [...]