10/06/2026
WHAT DO WE DO NOW?
How much more can hospitality absorb?
For years, venues like ours have done everything possible to protect customers from rising costs.
We’ve absorbed increases in food prices, energy bills, wages, National Insurance, business rates and supplier costs.
But the truth is simple:
We can’t keep absorbing them forever.
Something has to give.
If nothing changes in the coming months, many hospitality businesses across the UK will face an impossible choice:
Increase prices or close their doors for good.
At Limas, we’ve worked incredibly hard to keep our menu prices fair because we know households are feeling the pressure too.
But if we were forced to pass on the full burden of rising costs and the current 20% VAT rate, many of our menu prices would need to rise significantly just to maintain the standards and service our guests expect.
So the question is:
Would you pay 20% more for your meal?
Most people would understandably say no.
That’s why the current situation isn’t sustainable.
Hospitality is one of the UK’s largest employers, yet we operate with one of the highest hospitality VAT rates in Europe.
The campaign is calling for hospitality VAT to be reduced from 20% to 10%.
This isn’t about making business owners rich.
It’s about helping independent pubs, restaurants, cafés and hotels survive, protecting jobs and keeping local communities thriving.
A lower VAT rate would help venues keep prices affordable, invest in their teams and create opportunities for future generations.
There is something you can do.
Please take 30 seconds to sign the petition at www.vatstheproblem.co.uk.
Because if nothing changes, customers will pay more, businesses will continue to close and communities will lose places they may never get back.
💚
