Rachel Reeves warned there’ll be ‘blood on the high street’ by key hospitality chief | Politics | News
The CEO of a major hospitality industry body has called on Rachel Reeves to cut business rates and National Insurance contributions, warning there will be “blood on the high street” without help. CEO EnglandHospitality Kate Nicolls told The Express the Chancellor must “urgently” provide much-needed confidence in the economy on Budget day, November 26.
Ms Nicolls said currently two hospitality businesses a day are closing their doors completely, while two-thirds of the industry have been forced to reduce staff numbers. Meanwhile, a third of hospitality companies are reducing working hours due to staff shortages.
“Hospitality, retail and leisure are the drivers of the economy and have been for many years, but at the moment it is actually going backwards,” Ms Nicolls said.
High business rates are part of the problem, he says, and he called on Reeves to keep his promise last year of “the maximum possible reduction in business rates”.
In last year’s October budget the Chancellor announced that small businesses would see a reduction in business rates, while large businesses would see an increase in taxes. Meanwhile, Ms Nicolls said she was working with many small high street businesses who were “clinging on by their fingernails trying to get to the budget to see if there was a deadline”.
He added: “But they have made it quite clear that if the Budget is as bad as predicted they will hand back the keys and close the business in January.”
“The business rates relief needs to be implemented in full,” Ms Nicolls said, calling for businesses to see a “meaningful reduction” in the amount they are charged. He warned that if this is not met, business closures could double next year, Restaurant Online reported.
Ms Nicolls then targeted employers’ National Insurance Contributions (NICs); this increased from 13.8% to 15% in last year’s Budget.
He said: “We would like to see a change to NICs to encourage businesses to accept people who are unemployed, long-term ill and long-term disabled.”
He also wanted an extension of the one-year NIC holiday for veterans.
Ms Nicolls said the change would “cut the welfare bill and get people back to work ethic and dignity”.
At the private sector dinner, Ms Nicolls said there would be “more bloodshed on the high street” if the Chancellor “does not support hospitality in the budget” and “crucify the sector again as he did in the last budget”. Restaurant Online reported.
Asked what she meant by these strong words, Ms Nicolls said: “It means they have no strategy, they are ignoring the day-to-day economy. Without a comprehensive action plan and a clear strategy to support high street businesses, we will see more closures and more job losses.”
He added: “We are already at the levels of closure and job loss we saw during Covid. If we don’t act as we head into the New Year, with January, February and March being the toughest trading months on the high street, you will see further business failure.”
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) reported that unemployment in England reached 5% this week; this level was also recorded during the lockdown.
“We are faced with many anecdotal examples of successful businesses that would otherwise be profitable having to lay off staff, close and sell sites,” Ms Nicolls said.
