Business leaders in Southend have recently joined forces with UKHospitality to warn that recent tax rises, reduced business rates relief and sharp increases in the National Minimum Wage are hitting jobs and investment hard.
Southend East and Rochford MP, Bayo Alaba, recently met with hospitality leaders at Rossi’s Ice Cream Parlour and was told how the Government’s 2024 Budget has created unsustainable pressures on hospitality businesses.
The round-table talks, organised as part of UKHospitality’s #TaxedOut campaign, brought together Philip Miller MBE (Stockvale Group, Adventure Island and Sea Life Adventure), James Sinclair (Partyman Group and Rossi’s), other Southend business representatives, and leaders from UKHospitality.
Discussions highlighted how the Budget has created more than £3.4 billion in extra annual costs for the industry through:
• Employer NICs changes costing the sector £1 billion.
• Increases in the National Minimum and Living Wage adding £1.9 billion.
• A cut in business rates relief from 75% to 40%, leaving many venues worse off.
Since April, the sector has already lost 84,000 jobs, with one in three businesses now operating at a loss. Many have been forced to cut staff hours, restrict opening times, or delay investment.
In Southend alone, hospitality contributes £155 million annually to the local economy, supporting 6,395 jobs across 334 venues.
The meeting took place against the backdrop of Philip Miller’s ongoing campaign to rebrand the National Minimum Wage. He has written to all MPs emphasising the impact of sharp NMW rises on businesses.
He has also consistently argued that the current terminology unfairly undermines both employers and employees and has called for it to be renamed the “Government Set Wage” to reflect the reality that the rate is set nationally by government rather than chosen by businesses.
Philip Miller, Executive Chairman of the Stockvale Group of Companies, said: “Our sector is being squeezed from every direction. Successive wage hikes, higher employment costs and reduced business rate relief are forcing us to cut hours and, in some cases, jobs.
“The pace of National Minimum Wage increases risks destabilising businesses and damaging morale. Worse still, the term ‘minimum wage’ itself unfairly suggests employers are reluctant payers, when in reality it is a Government Set Wage. Renaming it would be a simple, cost-free step to restore dignity to workers and fairness to employers.”
He continued by warning of wider economic and inflationary consequences: “Continually increasing taxes and wages simply fuels inflation. If businesses are forced to put up prices, customers’ spending power goes down, demand falls, and the domestic market becomes less affordable. That’s how the economy ends up shrinking, not growing.”
UKHospitality, the leading trade body for the UK’s pubs, restaurants, hotels and leisure companies, is calling for urgent reform in three areas:
• Business rates: deliver meaningful relief for hospitality businesses, particularly SMEs.
• Employer NICs: extend exemptions to cover young people and those moving from welfare into work.
• VAT: cut VAT on hospitality to stimulate growth and investment, bringing the UK into line with many European nations.
The organisation has described the 2024 Budget as “a hammer blow to the sector”, warning that the extra £3.4 billion in costs has already left one in three businesses operating at a loss.
With hospitality contributing £93 billion to the UK economy, generating £54 billion in tax and employing 3.5 million people nationwide, leaders warn that the Government’s current approach risks shrinking the very sector that creates jobs, skills and regeneration in communities like Southend.
