Expert Insight
NEWS from
Kate Nicholls UKHospitality Chief Executive
Just 29% of hospitality businesses feel optimistic about the next 12 months, with energy their biggest concern.
Five years have sped past since UKHospitality was founded, and each seems to have seen our sector facing a different but no less serious threat, starting – for some at least – with Brexit, then Covid, followed by inflation, a cost-of-living crisis, and now those sky-high energy costs.
And let’s not forget those ever-present bugbears of ours – VAT and unfair business rates.
Something of a five-year baptism of fire, then, for UKHospitality, formed with the bringing together of two trade associations to create the leading trade body speaking for the entire sector.
Sometimes we speak in concert with other trade bodies, and have just teamed-up with three others in commissioning CGA Insight to collect date that shows businesses that were forced into long-term fixed rate energy contracts between July and September 2022, feel the least optimistic about their prospects over the next 12 months.
Of those businesses that locked into a contract at the peak of the energy crisis between July and September, almost half (46%) are concerned that their business is at risk of failure in the near future, with 92% citing energy prices as a significant contributor to that risk. These businesses were also less likely to have cash reserves, with 46% of all respondents having less than three months’ worth.
So together with our industry body allies, we’re once again calling on the Government to insist that energy suppliers offer renegotiations to businesses locked into sky high contracts, or at least offer financial support to those at acute risk.
When UKHospitality was formed in 2018, it was almost two years since the UK had voted to leave the European Union. We all anticipated that would be the single biggest issue our sector would face, but then along came a global pandemic, followed record inflation and an energy crisis.
A tumultuous time, then, but one through which operators and their staff have worked tirelessly to keep businesses afloat and continue to offer world-class hospitality.
And it’s those businesses – whether hotels, pubs, bars or restaurants, to name a few, – that UKHospitality is able to represent, offering a single, united voice when working with government on the issues that matter most to our sector.
And we believe our sectors matters most, because it’s the engine of the everyday economy, continuing to create upwards of £130 billion in economic activity each year, as well as being the UK’s third largest employer.
Hospitality’s presence is felt everywhere – in every city, town and village. No other sector can boast our positive impact, whether socially, economically or culturally.
As for this industry’s growth potential, it’s unrivalled. It’s a simple fact, too, that our sector can be the driver of economic growth and jobs that can help pull us through these challenging times.
Just like the past five years, then, UKHospitality will continue to represent your interests at the highest levels of government, campaigning on the likes of costs, regulation, workforce and tax, to build the best environment in which hospitality businesses can thrive.
6
June 2023
www.venue-insight.com
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