‘A cut-and-paste budget’: UK businesses attack lack of help from chancellor

More than 6,000 hospitality venues closed due to cost pressures in the 12 months up to December 2023, analysts say Photograph: Andrew Catterall/Alamy

The chancellor has been accused of producing a “cut and paste” budget that fails to provide the tax changes needed to protect pubs and restaurants.

UK Hospitality, the trade body for the sector, said Jeremy Hunt’s budget had done little to “bridge the sector through a difficult period”, and failed to reduce the escalating costs businesses now face.