Following the announcement of the UK’s new Prime Minister Rishi Sunak today, UKHospitality Chief Executive Kate Nicholls said: “This is a critical time for hospitality businesses as they battle soaring energy costs, workforce shortages and waning consumer confidence, so stable political leadership is absolutely critical.
“Now is the time to steady the economy, deliver for the needs of the country and support businesses to help drive growth and create jobs.
“Hospitality clearly displayed its ability to grow prior to the pandemic and was on the road to a strong recovery before the energy crisis hit. It can return to those levels through pragmatic decision-making that eases the acute challenges businesses are facing.
“We worked very closely with the new Prime Minister in his previous role and we look forward to working with him again to address the current strain on businesses and bolster consumer confidence. I would encourage him to extend business rates relief, reform the entire business rates system in the longer term and lower the current rate of VAT.”