All Economics articles
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NewsAngela Rayner: Government must engage and listen to the sector
Labour leadership potential challengers Angela Rayner and Andy Burnham have criticised the government’s tax policies for putting hospitality businesses under pressure
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NewsTreasury: Pub sector underestimated end of Covid rates relief
The Treasury minister behind the controversial business rates overhaul has suggested pub operators and industry bodies did not fully appreciate that pandemic-era subsidies were coming to an end
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InterviewsXP Factory ‘hopeful we’ll see confidence come back this year’
Chief executive Richard Harpham tells MCA investors remain confident in the experiential leisure group despite it recently revising down profit forecasts
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NewsWetherspoon urges sector to back Reform tax plans
Chairman Tim Martin criticised the ’underwhelming’ reception from pub sector leaders to Nigel Farage’s pub proposals, which includes cuts to VAT, business rates, beer duty, National Insurance, as well as reform of the tied system
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Weekend PressKate Nicholls: 'The help for pubs is a good start, but there’s so much more to be done'
Businesses in hospitality all benefit from one another — it is a virtuous circle. The Government must do more, writes the UKHospitality chair in The Standard
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Weekend PressSacha Lord: 'What Rachel Reeves must do now is offer hospitality a sector-specific VAT reduction'
VAT for restaurants and bars in Europe is around nine per cent. Why is it so much more here, asks Sacha Lord in The Standard
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Weekend PressAt last, Britain is turning its back on Dry January
I’m all for moderation, but there’s enough to be worrying about without torturing ourselves over the odd glass of red, writes The Telegraph’s Victoria Moore
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OpinionJamie Oliver: ‘We are in the throes of a culinary brain drain’
The celebrity chef and restaurateur has warned the hospitality sector is being crushed by a combination of astronomical business rates, a rigid VAT system and a mountain of bureaucracy
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NewsStar Pubs sees L&T applicants rise 10% in January
The uplift comes against a backdrop of continued cost inflation and ongoing pub closures in parts of the L&T market
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Analysis & InsightHospitality liquidations remain higher than pre-Covid levels
Research from Begbies Traynor shows the hospitality industry reported some of the highest levels of serious financial distress in Q4 2025 with hotels, bars and restaurants facing the most risk
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NewsFarage sets out populist pubs plan
Reform UK has said it will scrap business rates for pubs as well as National Insurance increases for hospitality businesses and reduce VAT to 10%, funded by reinstating the two-child benefit cap
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NewsFoodservice price inflation accelerates in December as festive demand peaks
The Foodservice Price Index notes the rise in food and drink prices was driven by high demand for many items in the run-up to Christmas, as well as persistent supply-side constraints
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NewsPubs to see £12,500 cut to rates
Analysis by tax firm Ryan shows that on top of the lower multipliers and transitional relief already in place, the new 15% pubs discount in 2026/27, and a real-terms freeze on core business rates bills in 2027/28 and 2028/29, significantly reduces the impact of revaluation-driven increases
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NewsRestaurants turn to new deliveries for growth after flat December for at-home sales
Restaurant groups ended a soft year for at-home sales with fractional growth in December, but increased use of delivery services prompted near double-digit increase on a total basis
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NewsGovernment sets out business rates package for pubs
Pubs in England will get a 15% cut to their business rates bills from April followed by a two-year real-terms freeze under support measures announced by the Chancellor
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NewsThe Revel Collective split and sold in pre-pack administration
The Revolution and Revolución de Cuba brands have been acquired by Neos Hospitality while Peach Pubs has been bought by Coral Pub Company, operated by pub veteran Ted Kennedy
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NewsAlmost 9,000 hospitality jobs lost since November budget
Labour market data shows the sector employed 8,784 fewer people in December 2025, compared to the month before, despite the festive season traditionally being a time that businesses staff up
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OpinionRichard Bailey: Labour tax policies ‘vandalising communities’
Pubs are ‘under siege’, with government tax increases ‘decimating’ the country’s cultural heritage, according to the Thwaites and Independent Family Brewers of Britain chairman
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NewsJW Lees Christmas sales up 14%
The Greater Manchester-based family brewer and pub operator said there was relief after the Budget was ’not as grim for consumers as had had been trailed in the media’
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NewsPressure piled on Chancellor for meaningful rates relief
Business leaders have urged the Treasury to capitalise on a drop in the cost of borrowing to extend business rates relief for the hospitality sector