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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Mar- 2025 -5 MarchFood and Drink
FSA announces new allergens guidance
The Food Standards Agency (FSA) has revealed new best practice industry guidance on providing allergen information to consumers with food hypersensitivities. The new guidance states that written allergen information should always be available for non-prepacked food alongside a conversation between servers and customers about their allergen requirements. The FSA will…
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Feb- 2025 -26 FebruaryEducation
UKHospitality secures government-backed training scheme
The Department for Work and Pensions has announced that it will partner with UKHospitality to rollout hospitality Sector-based Work Academy Programmes (SWAPs) to 26 new areas in need of jobs. The announcement follows a successful pilot of the scheme in 2024, ran by UKHospitality, which delivered an 85% completion rate.…
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25 FebruaryPubs and Bars
Home Office proposes Women’s Euros licensing relaxation
The Home Office is proposing a relaxation of licensing hours if any of the qualifying home nations reach the semi-final or final of the UEFA Women’s Euro 2025. Licensing hours for these games are proposed to be extended from 11pm to 1am in England and Wales, which will be particularly…
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21 FebruaryCatering Companies
Contract catering sales rise 12% YoY in Q4
Britain’s top contract caterers saw their sales grow by 12% year-on-year in the fourth quarter of 2024, according to the latest Contract Catering Tracker from CGA by NIQ and Bidfood. As the tracker’s highest growth of the year, it followed increases of 7%, 10% and 7% in the first three…
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11 FebruaryEducation
UKH welcomes new apprenticeship changes
UKHospitality has praised two key changes to apprenticeships announced by the Department for Education. Under the changes the minimum duration of an apprenticeship will be reduced to eight months, down from the current minimum of 12 months. Furthermore, businesses will be able to decide whether adult learners over the age…
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Jan- 2025 -30 JanuaryNews-In-Brief
Today’s news in brief – 30/01/25
TGI Fridays has closed its flagship venue in London’s Leicester Square, which opened in 2015 after a multi-million pound investment. The closure means that TGI’s now has no restaurant in Central London although it retains venues at the O2 Greenwich and Westfield Stratford. UKH has urged the chancellor to bring…
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30 JanuaryTrade Associations
Growth plan must include foundation economy, UKH says
UKHospitality has urged the chancellor to bring forward a specific growth plan for hospitality, and other sectors in the foundation economy, that can deliver growth “swiftly”. While the trade body agreed that big infrastructure projects are much-needed, it also pointed out that their benefits won’t be realised “for years or…
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24 JanuaryAnalysis
How hospitality saved November and why it needs saving in April
The Office for National Statistics’ November 2024 GDP numbers highlight how important the hospitality industry is to the UK economy. It is evident that this industry continues to be a pillar of economic recovery, with the food and beverage subsector leading the economy in terms of performance, and hotels following…
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21 JanuaryTrade Associations
A fifth of hospitality staff to enter new employer NICs threshold
More than 774,000 hospitality workers, representing a fifth of the industry’s workforce, are set to enter into the new employer NICs threshold for the first time, according to new analysis from UKH. The trade body warns that the changes to employer National Insurance Contributions will hit hospitality hardest due to…
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16 JanuaryBusiness
Hospitality helps drive economic growth in November
Food and beverage was the highest performing sector of the economy in November, according to November GDP estimates released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS). The accommodation and food service activities subsector saw output rise by 2.0% in the month, following a fall of 1.2% in October 2024. Both…
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