Paul Askew, Chef Patron and owner of The Art School in Liverpool, says:
“I’m fully supportive of this new campaign led by Tom Kerridge, #VATsTheProblem, to reduce UK hospitality VAT to 10%. Our industry has been saying this for years, and how we remain way off the mark in terms of what many of our European neighbours do with VAT and hospitality. I can’t emphasise enough how perilous the situation is for this engine of the UK economy; we have already seen a spate of closures, of restaurants, pubs, bars, hotels, food halls and more due to how we are effectively penalised by turning ingredients into meals. This is only set to continue, whilst lose talent across every facet of what we do, from chefs and front of house staff to encouraging the next generation to being a career in hospitality. This is simply not sustainable, coming on top of damaging NI contributions plus high energy rates, minimum wage rises and more. We hope the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, is listening.”