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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May- 2024 -16 MayCatering Companies
Contract caterers’ Q1 sales rise 7% despite drop in units served
Top contract caterers across the country experienced strong like-for-like sales growth of 7% for the first quarter of 2024 despite seeing a drop in the number of outlets they serve, CGA’s Contract Catering Tracker has revealed. While this shows the sector’s continued recovery from the pandemic, with this being the…
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15 MayNews
Hospitality vacancies remain above pre-pandemic levels
Hospitality vacancies remain “stubbornly” above pre-pandemic levels with little positive movement in five months, the ONS has revealed. According to the latest statistics published yesterday (14 May), there were 107,000 vacancies in hospitality in the quarter to April 2024. This is 15% higher than pre-pandemic levels of 93,000. UKhospitality argues…
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8 MayRestaurants
Hospitality closures slow in Q1
Closures in Britain’s hospitality sector slowed from eight sites a day in 2023 to four a day in the first quarter of 2024, according to data from CGA. The sector saw a 0.4% decline in total numbers between the start of January and the end of March, the third smallest…
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Mar- 2024 -19 MarchEducation
Government to fully fund small business apprenticeships
The Government has announced that it is set to fully fund apprenticeships in small businesses from 1 April by paying the full cost of training for anyone up to the age of 21. Furthermore, large employers who pay the apprenticeship levy will now be able to transfer half of their…
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13 MarchFood and Drink
Most Britons still prioritise hospitality outings, report finds
Despite the cost-of-living crisis, eating and drinking out remains as important to Britons as ever, with 65% of consumers saying it’s still a priority for them, research from Zonal’s latest GO Technology report with CGA and UKH. Those prioritising hospitality outings among people aged over 65 rises to 71%, while…
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7 MarchNews
Gaucho launches VAT-free Friday lunches
Gaucho has decided to launch VAT-free lunches on Fridays during March in all its ten central London locations. The decision follows the decision for the Chancellor not to abandon the ‘tourist tax’ in the Spring Budget as well as the Mayor of London’s campaign to bring back Friday trading in…
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Feb- 2024 -29 FebruaryTrade Associations
Hospitality bosses back UKH’s call for action at upcoming Budget
Hospitality CEOs from groups including Mitchells and Butlers, Accor Hotels, Stonegate Pubs and Crerar Hotels have signed an open letter urging the Chancellor to take immediate action at the budget to prevent further business failure. In the letter, UKH and a total of 112 business leaders highlighted how rising costs,…
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23 FebruaryRegulations & Policies
New tipping rules strike right balance, says UKH
UKHospitality has praised the proposed tipping code of practice saying it “rightly enables businesses to reflect the circumstances in which they operate, without being too prescriptive and burdensome”. The Government legislated in May 2023 to introduce the Tipping Act which sets out how tips, gratuities and service charges are processed…
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22 FebruaryPeople
Hospitality confidence dips amid soaring costs
Some 41% of the UK’s top hospitality groups currently feel confident about the hospitality market over the next 12 months, down by 8% since October 2023, an exclusive poll by CGA by NIQ has reported. The proportion of leaders who feel optimistic about prospects for their own business in the…
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2 FebruaryPeople
UKH appoints first deputy chief executive
UKHospitality has announced the appointment of Allen Simpson as its new deputy chief executive, bolstering its senior team at “critical” time for hospitality. Simpson joins the trade body from London and Partners, the Mayor of London’s tourism, inward investment and city marketing agency, where he served as executive director, and…
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