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.
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May- 2021 -5 MayFood and Drink
330,000 jobs could be lost if rental issues remain unsolved, says UKH
Over 330,000 sector jobs are at risk if the £2.5bn rent debt issue is not resolved, according to new analysis by UKHospitality (UKH). A new survey of UKH members found that resolving the rent debt issue is “critical” to ensuring the future health of a sector that prior to the…
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4 MayTrade Associations
Hospitality sector lost £80.8bn in sales during pandemic
The UK’s hospitality sector has reportedly lost £80.8bn in sales due to the Covid-19 pandemic, according to UKHospitality’s (UKH) Quarterly Tracker with CGA. Figures showed that sales from the start of April 2020 to the end of March 2021 totalled £46bn, which is down by 64% on £126.8bn from the…
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4 MayCoronavirus
UKH calls for ‘decisive’ government action on rent debt
UKHospitality has written to the government urging it to adopt its proposals to help tackle the £2.5bn rent debt crisis that “threatens to wreck the hospitality sector’s recovery and risks further widespread job losses”. For more than a year, the trade association has been highlighting the threat that rent debt…
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Apr- 2021 -21 AprilFood and Drink
Hospitality reopening sales 45% higher than in 2020, says CGA
Like-for-like sales at pubs, bars and restaurants that were trading in the seven days from last Monday (12 April) were 45% higher than in the week from 4 July 2020, when they were able to resume both inside and outdoor service. According to the latest data from CGA and Alix…
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21 AprilCoronavirus
355,000 fewer employees in hospitality than last year, says ONS
There are around 355,000 fewer employees in the hospitality sector in 2021 compared to the year before, according to employment figures released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS). Some 78% of those leaving the hospitality payroll employment were under the age of 35, and more than half who lost…
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15 AprilGovernment
Gov set to consult on mandatory calorie labelling of alcohol
The government is reportedly set to launch a consultation into the mandatory calorie labelling of alcoholic beverages. According to a report in The Sun, the government is drawing up plans to require pub chains with more than 250 staff to display calorie information on menus or pump labels. Following a…
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9 AprilGovernment
Gov calls for evidence on Covid commercial rent debts
The government has called for evidence regarding the current state and progress of commercial rent debts in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. Hospitality groups, such as UKHospitality (UKH), have praised the government’s move as an attempt to address issues relating to commercial rent debts for businesses within the sector.…
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1 AprilGovernment
Treasury Committee launches inquiry into job recovery post-Covid
The Treasury Committee has announced it has launched an inquiry into job, growth and productivity recovery after the pandemic. The cross-party group of MPs will examine how the government can reduce and mitigate the economic damage and job losses resulting from the pandemic. Mel Stride MP, chair of the Treasury…
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Mar- 2021 -26 MarchTrade Associations
UKH appoints new Scottish executive director
UKHospitality (UKH) has announced the appointment of Leon Thompson as its new executive director for Scotland. Thompson succeeds Willie MacLeod in the role, taking on the position after leading VisitScotland’s policy agenda over the last eight years. On his appointment, Thompson said: “I am very much looking forward to joining…
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25 MarchTrade Associations
Business rates relief cap may ‘jeopardise’ sector recovery, warns UKH
UKHospitality (UKH) has warned that the business rates relief cap could “jeopardise” the hospitality sector’s economic recovery following the pandemic. Analysis from the trade association reveals almost 8,000 business venues, employing an estimated 343,000 people will be paying full rates in July, despite Budget measures to soften the acute rates…
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