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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Apr- 2020 -22 AprilBusiness
66% of hospitality businesses ‘will not survive’ another three months of lockdown, study finds
Some 66% of hospitality businesses do not think they can survive a further three months of lockdown measures. According to a study by Kam Media, which involved 211 hospitality companies – ranging from businesses operating pubs and bars to restaurants, cafes and street food venues believe they will not survive…
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22 AprilCoronavirus
UKHospitality calls for extension of government support
UKHospitality has called on the government to extend its support for businesses affected by the ongoing pandemic. Speaking to the House of Commons Treasury Committee, UKHospitality CEO, Kate Nicholls, gave evidence outlining the problems being faced by hospitality businesses hit by the nationwide lockdown. Nicholls highlighted the areas where government…
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17 AprilCoronavirus
‘Urgent’ inquiry to help hospitality businesses recover to launch in May
The All-Party Parliamentary Group for Hospitality and Tourism is launching an “urgent inquiry” to establish the best ways to support the recovery of businesses hit by Covid-19 – at the right time and in line with Government health advice. According to the group, hospitality and tourism have been two of…
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16 AprilCoronavirus
Urgent inquiry launched to support hospitality businesses
The All-Party Parliamentary Group for Hospitality and Tourism announced it is launching an urgent inquiry to establish the best ways to support recovering businesses in light of the annoying pandemic. The inquiry will assess what is needed to get hospitality businesses “back on their feet at the right time for…
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16 AprilCoronavirus
Chancellor extends furlough scheme deadline
Chancellor Rishi Sunak has extended the deadline for the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme after it was found that many people who had recently changed jobs were set to miss out. Under the scheme announced last month, employers can claim a grant covering 80% of the wages for a furloughed employee,…
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14 AprilCoronavirus
Petition for Tronc payments to be included in furlough wages hits 6,000 signatures
A petition launched on change.org calling for the government furlough scheme to include tronc payments for hospitality staff has hit over 6,000 signatures. Currently, under the Job Retention Scheme, tronc payments such as tips and gratuities are not not included in the amount paid to furloughed workers. The petition, created…
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9 AprilCoronavirus
UKHospitality welcomes licensing flexibility during Covid-19 lockdown
UKHospitality has welcomed the Government’s recommendation of “additional flexibility” for licensees affected by Covid19. The Home Office has written to local authorities recommending “flexibility when safeguarding the licensing objectives”. The letter recommends a “considered and pragmatic approach should be taken to breaches of licence conditions and procedural defects caused by…
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7 AprilCoronavirus
Hospitality workers deserve full earnings from furlough scheme, says UKH
UKHospitality has urged the Government to reconsider its decision to exclude tronc payments from the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme. Under the Job Retention Scheme, tronc payments such as tips and gratuities will not be included in the amount paid to furloughed workers. UKHospitality chief executive Kate Nicholls said the decision…
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6 AprilTrade Associations
Hospitality businesses need extra protection after landlord retaliation, says UKH
UKHospitality has written to the government to ask for “urgent support” to protect businesses from “punitive” legal sanctions from commercial landlords. The trade body has called for an immediate extension of the forfeiture moratorium for six months and a widening of the scope to include broader debt enforcement measures, including…
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Mar- 2020 -31 MarchPeople
UKH and Caterer.com partner to help hospitality workers find 26,000 short-term roles
With an estimated 500,000 hospitality workers expected to be made redundant or temporarily out of work due to COVID-19, hospitality jobs board, Caterer.com, and UKHospitality, have partnered to create a new jobs hub that will help hospitality workers find short-term roles in other sectors. While the pandemic has reduced the…
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