Kate Nicholls

This archive features our reporting on Kate Nicholls OBE — a key voice in the UK’s hospitality and foodservice policy landscape. As Chair of UKHospitality, Nicholls plays a central role in lobbying government, shaping regulation, and influencing the commercial environment in which restaurants, pubs, bars, cafés, and catering firms operate. Catering Today covers Nicholls’ statements, policy positions, and leadership activity because her work directly affects the trading conditions, labour challenges, and long-term resilience of foodservice businesses. For operators navigating rising costs, staffing pressures, or post-pandemic recovery, her advocacy and insights are both timely and consequential.

  • Sep- 2023 -
    29 September
    NewsToday’s news in brief – 29/09/23

    Today’s news in brief – 29/09/23

    Hostmore has postponed any new restaurant openings until 2025, saving about £15m in cash expenditures due to challenging trading conditions. The company reported improved cost reductions of £8.2m for the 26 weeks ending July 2, benefiting FY23 by £5.8m. H1 2023 delivered negative EBITDA of £3.8m, compared with positive £7.1m…

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  • 29 September
    BusinessHospitality vacancies fall by 33% after UKH Workforce Strategy success

    Hospitality vacancies fall by 33% after UKH Workforce Strategy success

    Commitments made in UKHospitality’s Workforce Strategy, launched in May 2022, have helped bring down hospitality vacancies by 33% to 57,000 at its peak. In a significant update on the strategy’s progress since its launch, the sector now boasts “record” levels of employment in accommodation and food service with 2.7 million…

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  • 19 September
    NewsToday’s news in brief

    Today’s news in brief

    Canadian restaurant chain Tim Hortons is expanding in the UK using a franchise model to grow its portfolio of 75 restaurants. After five years of testing and learning, the brand plans to open both drive-thrus and high street locations in new towns and cities across the country. Tim Hortons entered…

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  • 19 September
    NewsUKH calls on gov to take action on business rates amid pub closures

    UKH calls on gov to take action on business rates amid pub closures

    UKH has warned the government that a commitment to extend business rates relief is essential to avoid further pub closures. New government statistics show that 383 pubs were lost for good in the first six months of 2023. That’s the equivalent of two pubs per day. Wales was the region…

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  • 11 September
    BusinessDWP and UKHospitality launch new hospitality employment scheme

    DWP and UKHospitality launch new hospitality employment scheme

    The Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) in collaboration with UKHospitality has launched The Hospitality Sector-based Work Academy Programme (SWAP). The new programme is designed to fill vacancies in the hospitality sector and the pilot scheme, set to launch in Liverpool before being rolled out to other major cities over…

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  • 8 September
    Trade AssociationsStrong sales unable to keep up with inflation, UKH finds

    Strong sales unable to keep up with inflation, UKH finds

    Turnover increased 6.7% in the last year to £137bn, but compared with 2019, remains almost 20% behind in real terms when accounting for inflation, according to UKH’s quarterly sales tracker.  The tracker, in association with CGA, also showed that sales in the last year are 2.3% up on pre-pandemic sales.…

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  • Aug- 2023 -
    14 August
    Pubs and BarsSunak steps in to save off-site sales

    Sunak steps in to save off-site sales

    Pubs and bars in the UK will be able to continue selling takeaway pints after a personal intervention from Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. The rules were introduced in July 2020 and allowed pubs to sell takeaway pints without permission from the local council. These rules were set to expire on…

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  • 11 August
    Trade AssociationsUKH urges the industry to back ‘Five Asks for Ofgem’

    UKH urges the industry to back ‘Five Asks for Ofgem’

    UKHospitality is leading a rallying call for the industry to support its ‘Five Asks for Ofgem’ to rapidly implement the recommendations from its energy market review.  In order to enact “meaningful” change within the energy market, UKH has urged Ofgem to encourage suppliers to resolve issues many businesses are facing…

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  • Jul- 2023 -
    21 July
    Trade AssociationsUKH ‘disappointed’ with regulatory easements outcome

    UKH ‘disappointed’ with regulatory easements outcome

    UKHospitality chief executive, Kate Nicholls has said it is “disappointing” the government has decided not to go ahead with making on-sale alcohol licences automatically cover off-sales and increase the number of Temporary Event Notices permitted. The decision comes in its response to a consultation on regulatory easements to the Licensing…

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  • 14 July
    AnalysisAnalysis: Late Night Levy Extension – A Further Blow to an Already Strained UK Hospitality Sector

    Analysis: Late Night Levy Extension – A Further Blow to an Already Strained UK Hospitality Sector

    UKHospitality, the country’s leading hospitality trade association, has branded the extension a “damaging blow” to an industry already dealing with the repercussions of the pandemic and a series of national rail strikes. The late-night levy was first introduced in 2014 to offset the costs of policing late-night activity. The recent…

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