"He said the fact that businesses were still recovering from the Covid-19 pandemic, during which many restaurants were forced to close for months as part of government-ordered lockdowns, meant the situation was even worse than after the 2008 financial crisis. We're being suffocated, said the restaurateur, whose business made an operating loss despite increasing sales in 2024, the latest accounts available. We need more oxygen a reduction in rates of 20% or 25%."
"Ramsay's comments came after the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, said this month she was considering measures to support pubs, after criticisms of changes in the budget to business rates, which replaced generous Covid support measures with new lower discounts, just as many businesses faced increases linked to revaluations of their properties. However, Reeves told the World Economic Forum in Davos this week that her planned support package would not cover the wider hospitality sector."
Gordon Ramsay warned that government tax and business-rate changes threaten widespread closures across the UK hospitality sector. His company operates 34 UK restaurants and he described the industry as facing a "bloodbath" with restaurants closing daily. Rising business rates add to higher energy, staffing and ingredient costs amid weak consumer spending. Many businesses are still recovering from Covid-19 lockdowns, making the current strain worse than after the 2008 financial crisis. Ramsay called for a 20–25% reduction in rates. The chancellor is considering targeted pub support but not wider hospitality assistance, and UKHospitality forecasts hundreds of closures.
Read at www.theguardian.com
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]