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IN VIEW Special report by Ged Henderson


Date: 28 April 2026 Time: 08.30-11.00


Venue: Dunkenhalgh Hotel and Spa


Join decision-makers implementing AI and automation, and those considering their next steps.


Hear from business leaders and specialist practitioners on what is working, what is challenging, and how organisations are adopting new technologies while managing risk.


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LAST ORDERS AT THE BAR?


For many in the hospitality business 2026 is likely to be the last chance saloon.


The sector is straining under the weight of large-scale tax rises over the course of the last two Budgets. Hikes in national insurance contributions and the national minimum wage, coupled with business rate increases are taking their toll on operations already under pressure.


And despite the rates relief package for pubs unveiled by the government at the end of last year, the concern – and the strain – continues to increase.


Hospitality venue closures hit four a day at the end of last year, and the trade body UKHospitality has warned that number is set to rise to as many as six a day this year.


There have already been high-profile casualties in Lancashire in 2026. Guy’s Thatched Hamlet, an iconic canalside hotel and restaurant business in Billsborrow, closed suddenly in February after nearly five decades of operation.


The family venue, sitting on a near nine-acre site beside the Lancaster Canal, was home to Guy’s Eating Establishment, Owd Nell’s Canalside Tavern, a 65-room lodge, function rooms and a cricket ground and pavilion.


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Lila Thomas, one of the joint administrators and a partner at specialist advisory, restructuring and corporate finance firm FRP, said: “Like many businesses operating within the hospitality and leisure sector, the company has faced sustained cost pressures and challenging trading conditions.”


The business had been owned by the Wilkinson family for more than four decades and a


spokesperson for the family said: “The closure has been a difficult decision.”


Earlier, in January, the Revel Collective, which operated 62 sites across the Revolution, Revolución de Cuba and Peach Pubs brands, fell into administration. That saw the immediate closure of its Preston city centre bar.


Crow Wood, is an award-winning hotel and spa resort, an oasis of luxury, sitting on the edge of Burnley in 100 acres of parkland.


The vision of local entrepreneur Andrew Brown, Crow Wood was first established in 2001. In 2024 a £19.5m extension that doubled the size of the luxury spa opened its doors. It continues to attract visitors from across the UK.


Company chairman Andrew says: “It is clear the hospitality industry is facing an unprecedented tsunami of additional overheads, many of which are already well aired.”


our spa operation, and we are anticipating a likely doubling of our rates on our leisure and spa facilities.


“Last year the increase in national insurance and the national minimum wage cost us £850,000.


“This year rates may cost us an additional £500,000 in rates payable with a further potential £400,000 in revised national minimum wage increases.”


Andrew adds: “Unlike many businesses, hospitality pays 20 per cent VAT, with very little ability to reclaim input tax. There is no VAT on food, wages, insurance, alcohol duty, waste packaging tax, rates or the apprenticeship levy.


“Unless the government changes course extremely quickly there will be an alarming number of closures.


This year rates may cost us an additional £500,000 in rates payable with a further potential £400,000 in revised national minimum wage increases


He fears more closures ahead as he goes on to spell out the impact on his business and the wider sector. “As a hotel operator our rateable value is increasing from £180,000 per annum to £570,000, and we are not at all untypical,” he says.


“We recently completed a major expansion of


“We will survive as we have scale, but the reality is the huge impact of these taxes and their impact on our pricing, means customer leaving restaurants earlier and drinking less.


“Smaller players in pubs and restaurants already rely on sales over maybe two or three busy nights of the week. Many are choosing


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