“From a financial point of view, last year’s budget was worse for hospitality than Covid,” says Philip Thorley, who owns 18 pubs across Kent and employs about 400 people.
Usually he is looking to recruit staff to help out in the summer months but this year will be different, he says, as the £25bn increase in employers’ national insurance contributions (NICs) that came into force in April has been “catastrophic for our company and industry”.
