Average price of pint to surge above £5 due to April cost hikes, say beer bosses March 24, 2025 The average price of a pint of beer is set to surge past £5 for the first time due to cost hikes hitting the sector next month, according to industry bosses. Pub sector chiefs have warned that prices for customers will have to increase in order to help keep venues running in the face of [...]
The Spring Statement is an opportunity to secure the UK’s economic future March 17, 2025 The Chancellor should prioritise pension reform, enhanced use of digital verification and attracting FDI to kick start growth in the Spring Statement, says Chris Hayward The Chancellor has vowed to kick-start the economy, and the upcoming Spring Statement will be key to making that happen. The source of growth is right here in the City, [...]
Treasury to shelve plans for VAT on funds March 7, 2025 Ministers are looking to block a proposal from HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) to apply VAT to investment funds following warnings from City bosses. According to a report in the Financial Times, the customs body had been trying to end the carve-out that allowed third-party fund management operations to be free from the 20 per [...]
Boxpark launches new concept alongside a new CEO March 5, 2025 Matt Snell grew up above a pub and has done “every single job there is to do in hospitality”. For the last seven years, he’s been running Italian chain Gusto, directing it through a set of unquestionably tough years for the hospitality sector. Now, he’s running London’s Boxpark – and spearheading the roll-out of its [...]
Britain’s hospitality leaders face a crisis of confidence as tax rises bite February 25, 2025 Optimism in Britain’s hospitality sector has continued to slip, with only a third of leaders confident about the next year of trading as cost pressures mount. It’s the fifth month in a row that the confidence of Britain’s hospitality leaders has fallen, according to CGA by NIQ’s latest Business Confidence Survey. Morale is now at [...]
Higher taxes will force two-thirds of hospitality business to cut jobs February 24, 2025 The hospitality sector will be drastically affected by higher taxes on employees’ wages, a new survey has found. A majority of businesses will reduce employment, while over one in ten have to close at least one site and just under two thirds will cancel investment, according to UKHospitality. The UK’s three core hospitality trade bodies [...]
Rachel Reeves must act now to save pubs, City broker warns February 20, 2025 Peel Hunt has become the latest broker to issue a warning that British pub culture is at risk due to structural pressures and tax hikes. Hospitality was the biggest driver of economic growth in both November and December, according to the latest government figures. But tax rises in the October budget “halted and reversed a [...]
Sweeney should get RFU bonus if he earned it. He didn’t, so shouldn’t February 18, 2025 England Rugby’s CEO Bill Sweeney should get a hefty pay package, but only if the numbers add up. They don’t, so he shouldn’t, argues Matt Hardy Should the chief executive of a major organisation receive a bonus for the work they do? For some it will depend on where they stand on the morality of [...]
Almost 300 pubs closed last year ahead of cost rises February 17, 2025 The British Beer and Pub Association warned that urgent Government action is needed to avoid more “completely avoidable” closures.
Retailers unite to warn Treasury on ‘perfect storm’ of costs February 11, 2025 A heavyweight group of retailers has warned the Treasury that hundreds of thousands of jobs are at risk in the retail sector due to unsustainable cost hikes this year. It’s the latest in a long string of warnings from the retail sector, which has been vocal about the coming damage to jobs and investment on [...]