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 -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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19 OctoberCoronavirus
Katsu Kitchen shutters permanently due to Covid-19
Katsu Kitchen, a Japanese inspired restaurant in Moseley, Birmingham, has permanently closed its doors as a result of Covid-19. The company, which originally started out as a pop up vendor in August 2018, posted an online statement saying “we shall be closing indefinitely from Sunday 18 October, the pandemic has…
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16 OctoberCoronavirus
Hospitality sector to stage peaceful protest in Parliament Square
Members of the hospitality industry will converge on Parliament Square to urge the government to revise its policies relating to hospitality venues, both in terms of restrictions and industry-specific support, next Monday. At 10.30am on Monday 19 October, ‘HospoDemo’ protestors from all corners of the industry will come together to…
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15 OctoberCoronavirus
Move to Tier 2 ‘catastrophic’ for London’s hospitality sector
Placing London in Tier 2 will have disastrous outcomes for the hospitality sector, unless more job support and grants are made available, UKHospitality claims. The trade body has warned that without Tier 3 support for firms currently in Tier 2 the industry will face widespread job losses in weeks. The…
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13 OctoberRestaurants
Herman ze German to permanently close all UK sites
Herman ze German has announced the permanent closure of all its UK sites. The fast food brand, which specialises in German sausages, operates four sites across London in Soho, Charing Cross, Fitzrovia and White City. In a message to customers on Instagram, the group cited the financial impact of Covid-19…
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