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- 2024 -11 NovemberNews-In-Brief
Today’s news in brief – 11/11/24
UKH with the support of industry bosses have warned of the effects of the autumn budget, saying that it will cause small business closures, job losses and reduced investment in the sector. UKH boss Kate Nicholls was supported by the likes of Fuller’s, Stonegate Group and Whitbread, as well as…
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11 NovemberNews
UKH warns budget will cause job losses, closures and reduced investment
UKHospitality alongside notable hospitality bosses have warned the chancellor that plans outlined in the autumn budget will cause small business closures, job losses and reduced investment in the sector. Kate Nicholls, chief executive of UKHospitality, and UKHospitality board members, which includes the bosses of Fuller’s, Stonegate Group and Whitbread, have…
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8 NovemberTrade Associations
UKH welcomes ‘short-term’ fix of interest rates cut
UKHospitality has welcomed the Bank of England’s interest rates cut from 5% to 4.75%, saying it is “positive news in the short-term”, particularly those still struggling with pandemic debt repayments, and consumer confidence. However, the trade body said it believes the benefits of this cut is overshadowed by the looming…
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1 NovemberNews
Budget to increase full-time cost of employment by £2,500, UKH reveals
The employment tax measures announced in the Autumn Budget will increase the cost of employing a full-time staff member by at least £2,500, UKHospitality has said. New analysis from the hospitality association has revealed that increases to employer NICs and wages will hit the hospitality industry “hardest”, with a 10%…
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Oct- 2024 -31 OctoberBusiness
Budget reaction: Rising costs ‘latest blow’ to sector’s recovery
The hospitality industry has criticised chancellor, Rachel Reeves’ first budget, with UKHospitality claiming it is the “latest blow” to the sector’s recovery. Yesterday, Reeves announced a series of measures aimed at raising £40bn in taxes, including employers’ national insurance contributions rising to 15%, alongside hikes in both the National Living…
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24 OctoberNews-In-Brief
Today’s news in brief – 24/10/24
Hospitality groups recorded a YoY sales rise of 1.7% in September, meaning that managed venues have achieved like-for-like increases in eight of the nine months to September 2024. While this is a welcome improvement, it is a sign of the continuing challenges to real-term growth, as the sector enters the…
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24 OctoberBusiness
UKH appointed sole business voice to Covid-19 inquiry
UKHospitality has been appointed a core participant in the Covid-19 Public Inquiry in London today (23 October 2024), as the preliminary hearing into the economic response to the pandemic began. Chief executive Kate Nicholls and deputy chief executive Allen Simpson were in attendance as the sole private sector representatives at…
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21 OctoberBusiness
170 hospitality bosses call for business rates action ahead of Budget
170 hospitality leaders have backed UKHospitality’s call for a lower level of business rates for the sector ahead of the Labour party’s first Budget at the end of the month. In an open letter to the chancellor, the CEOs of Britain’s most well-known and biggest pub groups such as Fuller’s,…
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16 OctoberBusiness
Hospitality business rates to hit £914m, UKH warns
September’s CPI inflation data will cause an additional £48m increase to business rates meaning the overall bill, set for April, will likely hit £914m, according to UKHospitality. As a result of this the trade body is calling on the chancellor to introduce a lower, permanent and universal multiplier for hospitality.…
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10 OctoberTrade Associations
UKH calls for consultation on Employment Rights Bill
UKHospitality has called for an ongoing consultation of the government’s Employment Rights Bill to avoid “unintended negative consequences”, saying that changes are not without cost. While the trade body welcomes the government’s recognition of the importance of employment flexibility, it believes that protecting access to zero hours contracts is “essential”…
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