The Chancellor has indicated that only pubs will receive tax relief from the Government’s recent business rates U-turn, leaving other hospitality businesses without support. Speaking at the World Economic Forum, she said: “The situation the pubs face is different from other parts of the hospitality sector.” The decision has drawn criticism from industry leaders. “The circumstances pubs face are not unique – the challenges economically, tax, cost pressures, all of those are common across the whole hospitality sector. The specific issues on business rates that pubs face are also shared by hotels,” said Kate Nicholls, the chairman of UKHospitality. “A whole hospitality problem needs a whole solution. The package needs to be substantive and it needs to be sector-wide, otherwise it risks being too little, too late. Businesses are going to be closing.”
