UKHospitality (UKH) has welcomed the Government announcement of further support for the pub sector on business rates, and greater support for high street businesses. This recognises the unfair burden the pub and wider hospitality sector faces by this out-of-date tax.
UKHospitality has long argued that business rates disproportionately burdens business in the sector – who are paying £2.4bn more than they should. The commitment to fundamental, wider reform is very welcome and we encourage Government to bring this forward as early as possible.
Kate Nicholls, UKHospitality CEO, (pictured), said, “This is fantastic news for pubs and other high-street businesses who are taking too much of the pain from business taxes. The economy has evolved and the tax system needs to catch up.
'Taxing property higher than the rest of the developed world is a recipe for the decimation of our high-streets and communities, which we have already started to see.
“At the Budget in March we need to see drastic action to cut the cost of running a business regardless of size. Costs are on the rise, particularly with the planned 6.2% increase in the National Living Wage in April.
'We will be proposing a range of measures, including further cuts in business rates for all hospitality businesses and a cut in employment taxes to support firms in delivering higher take-home pay.”