Editor’s Viewpoint: Time to Spread the Cheer-Despite the Budget!

By Peter Adams, Editor, CLH News.

A tweet we put up this week broke records for us in the number of views!

Not earth-shattering news, I’ll grant you, but this week CLH News achieved something of a record—several thousand views on a single tweet. No prizes for guessing the subject matter.

Yes, it was the Budget. Or more precisely, the extraordinary doublespeak that followed it.

We’ve all witnessed the platitudes, the carefully crafted spin from government spokespersons attempting to paint last week’s fiscal announcements in the most favourable light possible.

One had the brazen audacity to call it “a budget for business,” trumpeting a support package that caps “most increases” to just 15% next year. Yes, they actually said that. With a straight face, one presumes.

My response was measured, calm, (as you would expect)  and backed by evidence.

I pointed to the researched articles—not from partisan voices, but from hospitality and licensed on-trade organisations, world-leading accountants, and world-leading property specialists who had drilled down, point by point, to reveal precisely how much operators will see their business rates bills rise.

I politely suggested a little research might be in order before toeing the party line and trotting out pre-prepared talking points.

Suffice to say, I never received a response, and the silence, as they say, speaks volumes.

But “Here’s the Thing”

We are now approaching the sector’s busiest, most crucial time of year. Despite the catastrophic Budget, despite the tone-deaf politicians attempting to spin straw into gold, it is time for our sector to do what it does best.

Hospitality operators are masters of creating magic when it matters most.

Throughout December, they transform their venues into festive wonderlands—investing in décor, crafting unique experiences, offering flexible bookings, and delivering exceptional customer care. They create warm, welcoming environments where the public can escape their worries, share a meal, raise a glass, and simply breathe.

But let’s not romanticise it too much. This magic comes at a cost—and I don’t just mean the financial one, though that’s considerable.

The real pressure falls on the people behind the scenes. Staff face relentless demands during the year’s most hectic period, and good operators know they must balance guest happiness with staff wellbeing.

Adequate staffing levels, flexible schedules, and genuine support resources aren’t luxuries; they’re necessities if we’re to get through this season intact.

I remember running my own bar restaurant back in the 1980s and early 90s. Times were turbulent then too—high unemployment, punishing interest rates, economic uncertainty at every turn.

But come December, the parties began. And they continued, week after week, right through the month. People needed that escape, that moment of joy, perhaps more than ever, and I needed the revenue to sustain me through the quite post Festive period.

Despite the doom and gloom, despite budgets that seem designed to punish rather than support, it’s time to do what this sector has always done: spread some Christmas cheer.

Not because the challenges aren’t real—they are. Not because the government’s policies aren’t damaging—they are. But because our industry has always understood something fundamental: people need hospitality. They need warmth, welcome, and a place to celebrate life’s moments, big and small.

So, to every operator reading this: good luck. Take care of your teams, take care of yourselves, and let’s show them what this industry is truly made of.

And to those government spokespersons still peddling their spin? Feel free to respond any time!