UKHospitality (UKH), the voice for the UK’s hospitality sector, has published its asks of the incoming Government and the new Parliament.
The document, Menu for Change, outlines opportunities for the incoming Government to support, and work collaboratively with, a sector that employs 3.2 million people around the country.
UKHospitality believes the industry can:
• Grow its output by 5.5% over the next 3 years
• Increase employment by half a million within a decade, across multiple levels and in every region, including 30,000 apprenticeships by 2025
• Continue to act as focal points and social hubs for communities, acting as a linchpin for regeneration and infrastructure projects and increasing inward investment.
To do this, UKH is calling on the next Government to act decisively to support the sector.
The manifesto contains a number of asks, including three key requests:
1. Unlock our economic growth: Rebalancing the business tax burden to reflect the modern digital economy by reforming the business rates system
2. Boost skills and opportunities for our workforce: Boosting take-home pay for hospitality’s hardworking team members by removing the lowest paid from tax, doubling employer NIC thresholds and investing in training
3. Bringing our communities together: Delivering on the Tourism Sector deal and supporting Tourism Enterprise Zones to unlock the potential of the sector as an employer and incentivise infrastructure investment.
UKHospitality Chief Executive, Kate Nicholls said, “Hospitality businesses are integral to almost every community in the UK. Pubs, restaurants, cafes, hotels, nightclubs and more are features of villages, towns and city centres in every region. These businesses provide jobs and they provide investment. They are also at the centre of our social lives: these are the places we spend our leisure time with our family and friends.
“The sector employs over 3.2 million people and generates over £130 billion in turnover every year. We are the 3rd largest private sector employer in the country. Hospitality is crucial to tourism, high streets, seaside towns and communities. We underpin investment and regeneration and we help attract inward investment and export earnings.'
Nicholls continued, “We can do so much more, though, if we are given the right kind of support from the Government. Our ambition is to grow hospitality output by 5.5% over the next 3 years, which would outstrip the high street and the economy as a whole.
“Hospitality can provide even more jobs and chances to grow in fantastic, rewarding careers in an industry that provides opportunities at every skill level regardless of background, qualifications or skill level.
“We have a chance to do so if the future Government listens to what we need and acts positively to support a sector that makes a difference everywhere it flourishes.”
A copy of the manifesto can be found online: http://bit.ly/menuforchange
