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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Nov- 2020 -27 NovemberNews
UKH warns of £7.8bn trading loss in new tier system
UKHospitality had warned that under the new tier system £7.8bn worth of trading will be wiped out compared with 2019 if it lasts into the new year. The new government tier system has put 98% of the UK’s hospitality trade in Tier 2 and 3 regions. UKHospitality chief executive Kate…
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26 NovemberNews
UKH calls for increased government support
UKHospitality has called for increased government support, reiterating that hospitality jobs can “catalyse” the UK’s economic recovery, and avoid a further rise in unemployment. Commenting on the spending review announcement, Kate Nicholls, chief executive for UKHospitality, said hospitality jobs are at the “core of the grave unemployment” that is forecasted…
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24 NovemberCoronavirus
UKHospitality slams Covid Winter Plan
UKHospitality has criticised PM Boris Johnson’s ‘Covid Winter Plan’, warning that the government is at risk of “killing Christmas” for those who work in the hospitality sector. The trade body has said that the measures, which will see businesses in tier three permitted to provide takeaway only and those in…
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19 NovemberCoronavirus
UKH calls for greater clarity as lockdown nears end
UKHospitality has called for greater support for the hospitality sector following the second national lockdown, as well as “urgent clarity” on the tier system businesses will enter as the lockdown ends next month. Giving evidence to the House of Commons BEIS Committee, UKHospitality CEO Kate Nicholls argued that restrictions have…
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10 NovemberCoronavirus
Employment stats ‘reinforce need for targeted support’, says UKH
The release of ONS employment figures “highlights the scale of the crisis” currently being faced by hospitality businesses and emphasises the need for additional support for the sector, according to UKHospitality. The figures showed that a record 314,000 people lost their job in the three months to September as the…
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9 NovemberCoronavirus
Government extends restaurants and pubs takeaway permission
The Communities Secretary, Robert Jenrick, has reportedly extended the automatic permission for pubs and restaurants to serve takeaway food and drinks until 2022. The extension means that businesses will not have to obtain planning permission to provide takeaways until March 2022. According to i, Jenrick is set to make the…
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4 NovemberTrade Associations
CAMRA welcomes easing of takeaway beer restrictions
Trade associations have welcomed the government’s plans to ease restrictions on the takeaway sale of beer and cider from restaurants during lockdown. According to new legislation, pre-ordered alcohol can be collected by customers as long as they do not enter the premises. Nik Antona, CAMRA’s national chairman, said: “I am…
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2 NovemberCoronavirus
Hospitality firms on a ‘knife edge’, warns UKHospitality
UKHospitality has warned that the industry is on a “knife edge” following Boris Johnson’s announcement that England will enter into a new national lockdown on 5 November. A statement published by the trade body stressed that the hospitality industry has already been “pushed to the limits”, with many business owners…
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Oct- 2020 -30 OctoberCoronavirus
Hospitality sales drop by 48% in Q3
Hospitality sales in the UK have dropped by 48% in the third quarter, according to trade association UKHospitality and market analyst CGA. Sales for the year totalled £80.3bn, which is £53.2bn less than the £133.5bn that the sector contributed to the UK economy in 2019. This seismic drop in sales…
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21 OctoberCoronavirus
Business lunches to go ahead following Covid ‘loophole’
Restaurants can serve guests from multiple households following a ‘loophole’ in covid-19 restrictions that allows business lunches to go ahead. According to The Telegraph, Downing Street and local authorities have confirmed that meetings inside restaurants are permitted so long as they are for “work purposes.” London eateries including Galvin La…
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