Hospitality businesses are often the beating heart of our communities in Southampton and I want them to know that I’ve got their back. I recently held two meetings with more than 30 local businesses – the first two in an ongoing series – and the message from these was clear: times are tough and businesses need more support to ensure that they can continue to generate jobs and contribute to our local economy.
While it’s right that the government has made fixing the country’s finances a priority, this needs to be balanced with the need to safeguard the future of the small businesses that are so beloved by the communities they serve.
Indeed, this government has already made some welcome moves, such as extending the business rates relief for retail and hospitality which would otherwise have ended in April. But I’m now calling for the Chancellor to go further in next month’s Budget to safeguard the hospitality industry’s vital contribution to the economy and community life here in Southampton.
That’s why I’m one of 50 MPs who have today written to the Chancellor, Rachel Reeves MP, calling for three specific measures to restore confidence, safeguard jobs, and unlock the sector’s potential:
• Lower business rates: offer larger discounts for hospitality sites in England worth under £500,000 and scrap the proposed surcharge for larger venues.
• A cut in VAT on hospitality of approximately 5%: stimulating demand, encouraging investment, and helping venues remain open.
• Reducing National Insurance Contributions: including extending exemptions for young people and those returning to work, to protect vital entry-level jobs and pathways back into employment.
I’m determined to continue speaking up for local businesses and will be holding another Action Forum meeting with city centre hospitality businesses next month. Watch this space for more info.
Here’s the full text of today’s letter to the Chancellor, which I’ve co-signed.
RE: Protecting the Hospitality Industry in the Upcoming Budget
Dear Chancellor,
Ahead of the budget in November, we are writing to urge you to recognise the vital importance of the hospitality industry, and to take steps that will safeguard its future.
We appreciate the seriousness and scale of the fiscal challenge that we face as a country.
However, hospitality is one of the UK’s most socially and economically productive sectors. It contributes £140 billion to the economy, employs 3.5 million people, and generates £54 billion in tax revenues for the Treasury every year.
Unlike many high-growth sectors that are concentrated solely in major cities, hospitality has a presence in every community and in every parliamentary constituency. When hospitality thrives, the benefits are felt locally and nationally; when it struggles, the impact is immediate and widespread.
The sectors’ value extends far beyond economics. Hospitality is one of the UK’s most flexible and inclusive employers; it is one of the UK’s largest employers of young people and one of
the country’s most powerful drivers of social mobility with the sector providing a proven route into management and long-term careers.
Yet despite this enormous social and economic value, hospitality is under acute pressure. The situation facing the industry is stark.
Since the 2024 Budget:
The sector has lost almost 84,000 jobs.
An average of 2 hospitality venues have closed per day.
There has been a fall of 22,369 temporary summer job postings.
69% of businesses have reported that they are running below capacity, while three-quarters have less than six months’ cash reserves.
We therefore urge you to use the November 2025 Budget to restore confidence, safeguard jobs, and unlock the sector’s potential. We would like to see:
- Lower business rates: offer larger discounts for hospitality sites in England worth under £500,000 and scrap the proposed surcharge for larger venues.
- A cut in VAT on hospitality of approximately 5%: stimulating demand, encouraging investment, and helping venues remain open.
- Reducing National Insurance Contributions: including extending exemptions for young people and those returning to work, to protect vital entry-level jobs and pathways back into employment.
Without action in the Budget, the Hospitality industry’s vital contribution to the economy will be lost, more businesses will close, more jobs will be lost, and we will see more vacant boarded-up buildings across all communities.