30/10/2026
Now usually our posts are about what events we have coming up, and what our offering looks like, so sorry to get political on this one, I have deliberated for two days as to whether or not I should post it, but its something that needs to be addressed.
Hospitality and other small businesses were let down on Wednesday!!
Since 2021, the minimum wage has risen by 48%. The employer’s National Insurance bill for one full time minimum wage employee has risen by 162%. Altogether, the basic cost of employing that person has increased by 55%.
Food prices have risen by around 40%. Average commercial electricity costs have risen by around 65%, and for the smallest businesses they have more than doubled.
Businesses cannot keep absorbing these costs, but customers cannot afford endless price increases to cover the cost of food, our team, energy, rent or rates, etc...
There is a reason France, Spain and Italy charge hospitality VAT at 10%. The model simply does not work at 20%.
You can run a busy, successful, high turnover pub or restaurant and still lose money. That is not necessarily because you are bad at what you do. It is because the model is broken.
The rate relief will help some small businesses, and we welcome that. But it does not come close to covering the increases in wages, National Insurance, food and energy. Much of it is temporary and it completely ignores the structural problem.
Andy Burnham said he would argue for hospitality VAT to be brought into line with Europe. He told our industry that the cavalry was coming, he's failed to deliver.
We need your support as small independent business owners, we need you to raise your lattes and cappuccino in our establishments and not support the large national companies, some of which don't pay there fair share in taxes, just saying...
We need you to stand with us to take the fight to the government, to continue to campaign to reduce VAT to 10% for hospitality businesses.
It is now or never. We must force change before we lose our industry forever.
And of course we are thankful and grateful for everyone that chooses the Atrium to have that midweek catch up, those family celebrations and those simple, hour to yourself to decompress.
