Top UK chefs call for 10% VAT cut for pubs and restaurants

Four UK chefs and restaurant owners urged the government to reduce VAT for restaurants and pubs to 10% to relieve financial pressure. They said hospitality work was the hardest it had ever been and that businesses were not earning enough to cover costs. One warned businesses were keeping their heads above water, while another said taxation was very wrong. A cabinet minister acknowledged the government had asked business to contribute more but said support was provided and that tax decisions must be balanced against rising public spending demands. The chefs described the situation as crippling, with substantial portions of revenue going to government taxation. They cited pandemic disruption, energy price rises linked to the war in Ukraine, and limited relief from prior schemes.

"Four top UK chefs and restaurant owners have urged the government to cut VAT for restaurants and pubs as they warned working in the hospitality industry was the "hardest it has ever been". Tom Kerridge, Yotam Ottolenghi, Ravneet Gill and Simon Rogan told BBC Newsnight VAT should be slashed to 10% to ease pressure on businesses and bring rates closer to levels across Europe."

""We're not making any money whatsoever, and we're just keeping our heads above water," warned Rogan, while Kerridge said the government was getting taxation on businesses "very, very wrong". Cabinet minister Pat McFadden acknowledged the government had "asked business to contribute more", adding "we help them where we can"."

"He said the government was lobbied about tax cuts "all the time", but there was a cost attached. "The chancellor has to make these decisions in the round, netting off all of these demands against the increasing expenditure demands that government also faces by people every day saying 'why can't you spend more on this or this'," McFadden added."

"But Ottolenghi, who has 11 restaurants, cafes and delis, described the situation was "crippling" - not just for his own business, but for others running bakeries, cafes, and pubs. "Every pound that we take, a substantial amount of it just goes to the government for a different taxation," he said. The call from the famous chefs follows a tough few years for the hospitality industry."

Read at www.bbc.com