Editor’s Viewpoint: The Reckoning: Labour’s First Year Has Left Hospitality Fighting for Survival
By Peter Adams, Editor, CLH News.
There is no “sugar-coating it, our lead story, a damning assessment from sector leaders and organisations makes for sobering reading.
But it should surprise no one who has been watching the slow-motion catastrophe unfold across our sector over the past twelve months. I have repeatedly wrote about it since we receive much comment not only from sector leaders and organisations but also from grass root operators. Add to that our own experience trading in this current environment, it really is “no day at the beach for any business”!
Labour’s first year in office has been nothing short of a masterclass in how to systematically dismantle an industry that employs over 3.2 million people and contributes £132 billion annually to the UK economy. The £3.4 billion cost increase delivered in April 2025 alone represents more than policy miscalculation – it’s economic vandalism against businesses that were already on their knees.
Promises Made, Promises Broken
Labour’s manifesto commitments were meant to revitalise our high streets and support grassroots venues. Their pledges, after years of stagnation resonated with an industry desperate for a government that understood the cultural and economic value of hospitality. Yet here we are, witnessing the opposite: a 15.8% contraction in independent nightlife businesses, doubled business rates bills, and only one in four pubs making any profit.
The irony is stark. A government that campaigned on supporting working people has delivered policies that are destroying the very businesses that provide employment, training, and career progression for millions of those same working people.
April 2025 will be remembered as the month this government devastated hospitality. The timing couldn’t have been worse – or more revealing of a government that simply doesn’t understand how businesses operate, something I read more and more in mainstream media.
Spring should be the season of recovery, when venues build momentum for the crucial summer trading period. Instead, operators were hit with a financial tsunami that many describe as the final straw.
The £1.9 billion in additional wage costs, combined with National Insurance rises and the slashing of business rates relief, created a perfect storm that has pushed viable, well-run businesses over the edge. These weren’t zombie companies clinging to life – these were profitable enterprises that contributed to their communities and supported local employment.
Perhaps most frustrating is the government’s apparent inability to grasp the urgency of the crisis, something the NTIA make clear. While ministers talk about 2030 visions and long-term strategies, businesses are closing today. The licensing reform pilot in London, while welcome, is a drop in the ocean compared to the immediate support needed across the sector.
The £30 million Music Growth Fund, though positive, barely registers against the scale of devastation. It’s the equivalent of applying a plaster to a severed artery.
The Cultural Catastrophe
What’s being lost goes far beyond balance sheets. The decline of independent venues in particular represents a cultural catastrophe that will impoverish our communities for generations. I was once one a thriving independent venue and enjoyed my time immensely, I probably would not survive now!
A Call to Action
The sector’s call for the government to rule out further tax increases isn’t just about business survival – it’s about preserving the soul of British social life. Our pubs, clubs, restaurants, and venues are where democracy happens, where ideas are exchanged, where the fabric of society is woven together.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves must listen to this plea. The autumn budget represents perhaps the final opportunity to prevent irreversible damage to one of the UK’s most vibrant and globally celebrated industries.
As Michael Kill warns, we are approaching a serious cliff edge. The consequences of inaction will be felt not just in empty high streets and silent venues, but in the diminished cultural life of our nation.
This government came to power promising change. The hospitality sector is indeed experiencing change – but it’s the kind that destroys rather than builds, that silences rather than celebrates, that divides rather than unites.
The clock is ticking. The sector has spoken, and we are delighted to lead with it. Now it’s time for the government to listen – and act.
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