UKHospitality

It’s been another busy week for the sector. This week, Parliament swore in the country’s new Prime Minister, Andy Burnham, and today the City of Edinburgh Council introduced their 5% visitor levy. Allen Simpson, our Chief Executive, spoke to BBC Breakfast about Andy Burnham’s recent announcement of a 20% cut in business rates for pubs, clubs and live music venues across England. Kate Nicholls OBE, our Chair, also spoke to BBC News about the cut to business rates, urging the Government to extend the relief to the wider hospitality sector. Leon Thompson MCIPR, Executive Director of UKHospitality Scotland, commented on the negative impacts of Edinburgh’s new visitor levy on accommodation for domestic and international tourists: “The UK’s first visitor levy is not a cause for celebration. It’s a landmark moment for all the wrong reasons – increasing costs for visitors, hitting Edinburgh’s local economy and harming our reputation on the world stage.” Alongside the NFU (National Farmers' Union), Airlines UK, UKinbound, UKEVENTS (Org) and the Bira - British Independent Retailers Association, we have written to the Chancellor to warn the Government about the devastating impact a holiday tax would have on families, jobs, tourism and the economy. #Stoptheholidaytax Tony Sophoclides, our Strategic Affairs Director, attended the launch of Sodexo's UK & Ireland Social Mobility Impact Report at the House of Commons with The Purpose Coalition. The #VATsTheProblem campaign is steadily growing. We have reached 294,000+ signatures but still have a long way to go before we reach our goal of million. Click here to sign the petition today 👉 https://lnkd.in/g3TPXmhD We are asking hospitality businesses that are displaying the campaign assets in their venues to send us photos/videos of the assets. Thank you to those that have sent us content so far. Please send them to us on WhatsApp: 07519 847 978 Lastly, a reminder to book your place for our annual Environmental Sustainability Seminar on 14 October, bringing together leaders across hospitality to explore the sector’s journey to net zero. Book now 👉 https://lnkd.in/eDEMRhmT

It is encouraging to see Andy Burnham announce a reduction in UK business rates for pubs, clubs and live music venues. But if we want to unlock the full potential of hospitality, it is important that hotels and restaurants are part of this conversation too. Our sector plays an important role in driving economic growth, supporting local communities and creating jobs across the UK.   Earlier this month, I was encouraged to see support for UKHospitality's call to reduce VAT across the sector. A lower VAT rate could create the conditions for greater investment, help businesses grow and create even more opportunities for people and communities throughout the country.   Hospitality is one of the UK's great strengths. As the conversation continues, I hope hotels and restaurants remain firmly part of it.    #Hospitality #Hotels #Tourism #EconomicGrowth #UKHospitality

18 Years and Counting.... Eighteen years ago today, we opened the doors of The One Bull. The plan wasn't to build a group of businesses. It was simply to bring a boarded-up pub back to life, spend a few years turning it around and then sell it. Thankfully, that plan didn't work out. Instead, eighteen years later, that one pub has grown into six hospitality venues, an independent brewery, an independent wine merchant and a team of brilliant people. What I'm most proud of isn't what we've built. It's who we've built it with. Every member of our team, past and present, has helped to create businesses that bring communities together every day. It hasn't been an easy journey. We've weathered the financial crisis of 2008, rebuilt after the fire at The One Bull in 2017 and fought our way through COVID. Each challenge tested us, but each one reinforced why hospitality matters. Today our businesses employ around 140 people. We work with local suppliers, local trades and local producers. We create spaces where families celebrate, friends reconnect, colleagues meet and communities come together. That's what hospitality does. It creates jobs, drives local economies and gives our towns and cities life. Looking back fills me with pride. Looking forward fills me with concern. Not because hospitality has lost its resilience, but because the environment in which we're expected to operate has become unsustainable. Businesses like ours aren't asking for favours. We're proud to pay our fair share. But when the burden becomes so great that investment is cancelled, jobs are cut, businesses close and tax revenues ultimately fall, something has gone wrong. That's why I support the #VATsTheProblem campaign. Hospitality doesn't need rescuing. It needs the opportunity to do what it has always done: invest, employ local people, support other businesses and create places where communities thrive. Because this isn't really about celebrating the last 18 years. It's about making sure the next 18 are possible for businesses like ours, for the people who work in them, and for the next generation of hospitality entrepreneurs with the ambition to unlock the doors of their very first pub. Thank you to everyone who has worked with us, supported us and walked through our doors over the last 18 years. This feels like a milestone that belongs to us all. #Hospitality #HospitalityMatters #Pubs #VATsTheProblem

Our members are saving through exclusive supplier deals 🎉 UKHospitality membership unlocks discounts for your hospitality business from a range of our trusted supplier members, including: ✅ Octopus Energy ✅ Sky Business ✅ All Gravy ✅ BioHygiene ✅ Food Alert 📩 Not a member yet? Get in touch: membership@ukhospitality.org.uk

Likes do not fill rooms. Systems do. The Hospitality Social Media Summit shows how teams across independent properties, growing groups and global brands can turn social into measurable commercial growth. Across two intensive working days, delegates learn from award-winning hospitality social leaders with experience at IHG, Hyatt, Kimpton and Meliá, then build the strategies, workflows and tools that connect social with demand, bookings, reputation and loyalty. The programme continues with six months of supported upskilling through the Hospitality Social Media Summit (HoSS) Digital Hub, helping teams apply what they build long after the summit. 📆 3–4 September 2026: London and online View the programme here 👉 https://lnkd.in/e5FqQ8DQ

The proposed updates to the tipping Code of Practice may have been withdrawn, but the conversation around transparency and fairness in hospitality isn't going away. UKHospitality's CEO, Allen Simpson, put it perfectly in our latest whitepaper: "The tipping reforms are part of the biggest shift in employment law in decades. The government's intention is clear: to create greater transparency, fairness and employee involvement in how tips are distributed. For employers, that means greater responsibility to report, consult and demonstrate that their tipping arrangements align with those principles." Teams want transparency. Businesses need confidence that their processes stand up to scrutiny. That's why we're continuing to help operators understand what these proposed changes could mean and how to prepare for the future. Read the whitepaper and explore the latest guidance here: https://lnkd.in/e4MgZHs5 #Hospitality #Tipping #Tronc

🌱 Here’s what we’re covering at this year’s Environmental Sustainability Seminar   Join over 200 sustainability professionals from across the industry as we explore the practical actions hospitality businesses are taking today.   When: Wednesday 14 October Where: London Marriott Hotel Regents Park   👉 Spaces are limited, register now: https://lnkd.in/eZ4mWprz   Thanks to our amazing partners: Biffa, Brakes UK, Geo Green Power, Molson Coors Beverage Company, Pact Coffee | B Corp™, Sky Business, Sustainable Energy First

The Hospitality Social Media Summit was built to hold social media to the commercial standards hospitality expects of every other channel. That work now sits closer to the industry it serves: Kordie, the summit's producer, has joined UKHospitality, the leading voice for hospitality in the UK. Membership aligns HoSS with the businesses, leaders and teams the programme was created for, and sharpens its focus on the commercial skills the sector needs now. 3–4 September 2026 · Chicago Booth London and online https://lnkd.in/e5FqQ8DQ #Hospitality #UKHospitality #HotelMarketing #SocialMediaMarketing #HospitalitySocial

"We are not just a cashpoint to keep taking VAT from." Asma Khan, owner of Darjeeling Express, speaks to ITV News about hospitality offers a solution to employment challenges in the UK, but the cost burden is just too high. A reduced rate of VAT to 10%, in line with the rest of Europe, would allow hospitality businesses to help high streets to flourish and support local jobs. 10% is fair for hospitality. Sign the petition today 👉 https://lnkd.in/g3TPXmhD #VATsTheProblem

Sustainable Energy First's, 'Earth Day Action' event was held earlier this year in London where they had the opportunity to sit down with some of their clients who are also some of the hospitality industry's fantastic leaders. The interviews followed panel sessions held throughout the event, covering energy topics affecting the hospitality sector today. The interviewees featured in videos from our panel are: Tim Doubleday, Chief Financial Officer at BURGER KING UK, Jennifer Guilfoyle, Chief Legal Officer and Company Secretary at Maybourne Hotels, and our very own Chief Executive, Allen Simpson.