UK Hospitality: I represent bars and restaurants across the UK - and they’re being taken for granted

Hospitality is the “backdrop” to our daily lives in the UK, but is “taken for granted” - an industry boss has warned. 

Kate Nicholls, chief executive of trade body UKHospitality, said more help is needed to support the “fragile” industry and prevent further closures. 

As part of National World’s Food and Drink Month, we spoke to Kate to find out the support bars and restaurants need, and how the public can help.

Kate said: “We have 700 member companies and between them they operate 150,000 outlets across the UK.

“It’s our job to be the voice and face of those employers and businesses, to promote the sector as a great place to grow, work and invest, and to campaign on behalf of the sector to make sure businesses and their staff can thrive.”

UKHospitality, founded in 2018, is the national trade body for hospitality businesses and employers, which means it is the voice and face behind promoting the hospitality industry as a great place to grow, work and invest. 

Kate has worked in the role of chief executive from the beginning. 

“My role is to be the voice and face of the organisation,” she said. “This includes going to meet ministers, to meet parliamentarians, and to be the voice in the media on the issues that matter the most from pub closures to business rates.

“During COVID-19 I was speaking with the media on a daily basis, making sure that the views and concerns of the industry were heard.”

National World is hosting a Food and Drink month this September, which will help to highlight the hospitality industry, with UKHospitality has backed. 

Kate said work like this can have a positive impact on businesses. She added: “This kind of work is really important because it brings to life the sector as a whole. 

“The hospitality industry can often be taken for granted, and particularly there is a lack of understanding and awareness of the supply chain behind the food and drink that we eat in our local restaurants, pubs and café’s.

“A month like this brings it to prominence, and celebrates the food heroes that are in the community who are creating, growing and producing great food before putting it out on our tables.”

Kate explained that despite the hospitality industry being made up mostly of small businesses, she also clarified that the sector has a turnover of £140 billion, with 3.5 million individuals working in the industry.

However, the UK hospitality industry is currently facing challenges due to various aspects including; the cost of living crisis, food price inflation and more, with businesses in need of support.

Kate explained: “This is a sector that is the foundation of many of our communities and provides jobs for people across the country, but it’s an industry that has many unique challenges as a result of pressures. 

“We can see in the number of closures that is an industry that is still very fragile. 

“This is an opportunity to talk about what happens when those businesses go bust, to raise awareness of the fact that they are fragile and in need of our support, and also to articulate the support that is needed on a central, government level - if we are going to have a thriving hospitality sector and its supply chain on which it rests.

“We need to make sure we can continue serving Britain with great quality jobs, as well as places they want to live, work and invest.”

More needs to be done to support businesses and address those challenges, as Nicholls explains: “The single most important thing that we need at the moment is reform of the business rates system. 

“Our businesses are on high streets and in town centres, they are property intensive and they are paying a disproportionate level of tax. They generate 5% of GDP (gross domestic product) but they are paying 15% of all business rates.

“We need to be rebalanced and reduced, which will allow them to make those investments in their places and people and it will give them the breathing space to be able to stand a fighting chance of survival, growth and recovery.”

Kate stressed the importance of the hospitality industry in our towns and cities. “The hospitality sector brings light and life,” she said. 

“We saw what happened when hospitality was closed, we had a very graphic demonstration of what happens when you lose hospitality - people really missed it. 

“It is a safe space to socialise, it’s a place for family and friends to come together. But also, we saw the economic impact it had. When you close hospitality down, the economy goes into reverse. When hospitality is firing on all cylinders, the economy grows and generates tax and revenue to fund vital public services. 

“It is big and important in its own right, as it sustains jobs and investments in high streets across the community but it is also the foundation on which the rest of the economy rests and relies on.

“It is a real investment into the cultural and social wellbeing of our communities. 

“It’s the backdrop to our daily lives, and no other sector touches us in so many ways and is so important.”