Ahead of the Budget announcement next Monday, UKHospitality has warned the Government that hundreds of thousands of vital sector jobs could be lost and investment stunted, unless urgent action is taken on business taxation.
The Economic Contribution of the UK Hospitality Industry Report highlights best and worst-case scenarios for the hospitality sector and how, if it continues to be overtaxed without Government support, a huge 625,000 jobs could be lost over the next five years.*
Kate Nicholls, Chief Executive of UKH, said, “This is sobering news and it should serve as a huge warning sign for the Government. Thousands of hospitality businesses, including hotels, pubs, restaurants, visitor attractions, nightclubs and cafes – face a £113m business rates bombshell from next April.
'They are increasingly struggling from the effects of a disastrous rates revaluation last year and an archaic tax system that is shutting down the UK’s growth engine and resulting in a bloodbath on our high streets. The threat of losing over half a million UK jobs must surely be reason enough for immediate action.
“We call on the Chancellor to announce a freeze on business rates increases in the Budget and introduce a new digital tax to slash the rates burden on hospitality from April 2020.”
Keith Knowles OBE, Chief Executive of pan-European hostel operator Beds and Bars, added, “We urgently need root and branch reform of the business rates system. As a group, our total property tax bill increased by £675,000 this year - a rise of 64% - with huge double-digit hikes across UK venues, compared to an average of 2% increases for our European sites.
'This severely restricts our ability to invest and create jobs. This Government must decide whether it wants to continue to create the environment for recession or instead build an environment for investment, growth and job creation.”
Hospitality is the third largest private sector employer in the UK; double the size of financial services and bigger than automotive, pharmaceuticals and aerospace combined. The sector generates £39bn of tax for the Exchequer, funding vital public services. It ranks as a top seven employer in every region of the UK, and accounts for up to 11% of the regional workforce.
*625,000 is the difference in number of hospitality jobs forecast in the best and worst scenarios for the sector. Under the bull case, employment will grow by 10% by 2022, whereas in the bear case employment will decline by -10% on current levels.