Some might be reading this thinking, “Why is a Manc writing in support of a London title’s campaign on hospitality?”
But the thing is, I love this city. I am the chair of the Night Time Industries Association, one of the biggest trade bodies for the night time economy in the UK, with many members in London.
The last time I wrote an article for the Standard was July 2023, titled “We Mancs are mad for our nightlife, so why isn’t London?”
I was on holiday in Sicily when it was published, when I took a call from Andy Burnham’s office (I was the Night Time Economy Adviser for Greater Manchester at the time). All hell had broken loose. City Hall had been onto Andy’s office… let’s just say they weren’t best pleased! I stand by that article, though, and have been proven right since, with major events deciding to relocate to Manchester, including The Brits, MTV Europe and the MOBO Awards, to name only a few.
Contrary to what City Hall thought — that I’m anti-London, that things are better out of it — my thinking is just the opposite. London is the capital of the UK and when London benefits, I believe it benefits the rest of the UK. At the moment, London is suffering because of the government. I think it’s fair to say having a much-scrutinised “Night Czar” didn’t work and the new model of having a taskforce is much better — a smart move by City Hall, engaging key stakeholders and operators — but much more needs to be done.
I’m someone with strong Labour values, but I’ll be the first to admit that the set-up with the current leadership and the Chancellor just isn’t working. I used to be a Labour Party member and donor, but gave up both after seeing — in disgust — their fall back on their promises to help the hospitality sector.
Hospitality is the fifth-biggest industry in the UK and the third-largest employer. Since the Chancellor’s first Budget, and purely because of her reckless National Insurance increase, we’ve lost 110,000 jobs, with operators cutting hours at any and every opportunity. Sadly, these losses are affecting mainly young people, who might have had a weekend job in a local restaurant or pub to help them get through college. They are now an expense many simply can’t afford under the new rules.
We were also promised business rates reform, a “much fairer” system. It couldn’t be further from the truth, with pub rate valuations increasing on average by 76 per cent and hotels alarmingly up by 115 per cent. The recent rates reduction for pubs isn’t enough.
I was recently invited to sit on a hospitality panel at the Tory conference in Manchester, to which I agreed. The week before, I was totally taken aback when they named the panel “Labour Hates Fun”, but I’m actually starting to think that possibly could be the case.
The Chancellor announced the business rates reform at the dispatch box, then realising the uproar, took a left turn and said she wasn’t fully aware of the facts. Well, I’m sorry, that’s simply not the case. Every major trade body presented the facts. They knew what they were doing.
What we urgently need is one voice that talks directly to Government, which is why I’ve supported the chartered status application for The Institute of Hospitality. It’s a global hospitality organisation with professional development standards built in the UK. The application is supported by 1.87 million people. Alongside them is representation from within the House of Lords, including Lord Thurso. Giving it chartered status would prevent not just the U-turns and ridiculous decisions, but it would also send a strong signal to the sector that finally the Government are willing to engage and, more importantly, listen.
So what is the one thing I would ask the Chancellor for right now? Not just for London, but for the whole of the UK? It’s what we’ve all been crying out for — a sector-specific VAT reduction. Sunak did it when he was Chancellor, coming out of Covid, and it undoubtedly saved many businesses and jobs. I recently met Daisy Cooper, deputy leader of the Lib Dems, and she fully supported a VAT reduction. Even a reduction to thirteen per cent would still make us the 26th most taxed country in Europe in terms of hospitality, where the average is in the region of nine per cent. Incidentally, at the Night Time Industries Association conference in 2023, all three northern mayors, Andy Burnham, Steve Rotheram and Tracey Brabin, agreed.
So London, let’s push past all this negative narrative and do what us Mancs do. Big yourselves up, a bit more swagger, and if you’re in Fabric… more moves like Jagger.
