Business Rates
We provide essential coverage of business rates policy and reform, and how it impacts operators across the UK foodservice and hospitality sector. From government relief schemes and revaluation updates to lobbying efforts led by UKHospitality and industry coalitions, this captures the key developments influencing site viability and cost pressures. Whether you run a single high-street restaurant or oversee a multi-site pub or catering group, we explain how changes to the business rates system affect your bottom line, and what you need to know to plan ahead.
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Aug- 2018 -29 AugustBusiness
Bailiffs visited more than 200 firms daily over unpaid business rates
In the first year after the new business rates revaluation came into effect, councils sent bailiffs to more than 200 commercial properties everyday for unpaid rates. An investigation by real estate advisor Altus Group revealed that during 2017/18, over 81,000 business premises liable for rates were referred to bailiffs to…
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17 AugustBusiness
Business rates for English hospitality firms could rise to £50m, analysts say
Business rates for English hospitality companies could increase to £51.26m next April if inflation remains unchanged at 2.5%, according to real estate advisor Altus Group. Altus Group said next month could be “pivotal for the hospitality sector” as the upcoming Consumer Prices Index (CPI) measure of inflation determines how business…
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10 AugustBusiness
Villandry restaurant fails to find investor leading to closure of all London restaurants
Villandry has announced it has closed all of its London restaurants after it failed to find a buyer and rent doubled at the two sites. BDO were called in as administrators for the company after it failed to find investors to support rising rent and business rates. The chain’s outlet…
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7 AugustBeverages
CAMRA: ‘Pub closures are making us all poorer’
The Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) has said that UK pub closures are “making us all poorer” claiming that four out of five people in the UK have experienced a local pub closure in the last five years. As many as 80% of British people have witnessed at least one…
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7 AugustBeverages
Majority of Brits find the price of a pint ‘unaffordable’
Some 56% of people in Britain think the price of a pint of beer in a pub is unaffordable, according to new research by YouGov and Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA). Pub pint prices have seen an increase, with a third of the cost of a pint now made up…
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2 AugustFeatures
Cutting a bigger slice of cake: growth in the catering industry
The catering industry is thriving in the UK. According to data from IBISWorld – a specialist in business information and market research – revenue for the catering services market sits at £1bn and it has experienced an annual growth of 1% since 2013, with a current workforce of approximately 28,600.…
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Jul- 2018 -20 JulyPubs and Bars
Brewers and pubs launch ‘Long Live the Local’ campaign
Members of campaign group Britain’s Beer Alliance (BBA) have launched a campaign encouraging people to support their local pubs amid increasing beer tax. The ‘Long Live the Local’ campaign has called on the government to cut Beer Duty as pubs facing “increasing pressures” including business rates and VAT. Over the…
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19 JulyApps & Technology
Is Deliveroo moving customers from cover to couch?
Stolen food, high commission prices, overworked staff and ruining restaurants’ relationships with their customers – just a few claims made by restaurateurs who partner with door-to-door delivery apps such as Deliveroo. The massive growth of the British-born smartphone app, which allows customers to order meals from well-known high street restaurants…
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19 JulyBusiness
‘Phantom hours’ costing UK businesses £37m a week
A survey of shift workers in the retail, hospitality and leisure industries has found staff to be overstating their working hours by an average of almost half an hour a week. Staff rota scheduling firm Rotaready, which conducted the survey, said these ‘phantom hours’ are costing UK businesses as much…
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11 JulyPubs and Bars
Wetherspoon warns of costs increase as it reports uplift in sales
Pub group JD Wetherspoon has reported a 5.2% like-for-like sales increase for the 10 weeks to 8 July 2018, but has warned of cost increases for the next year. The group said it expected business rates, the sugar tax, utility taxes and wages to have an impact on its costs.…
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