Budget: Hospitality Sector

Well, mixed news in the Budget for our hospitality sector, I would say.

• A cut in business rates by 50% for qualifying businesses in retail, hospitality, and the leisure sector for a further year will hopefully help with that large overhead.
• No extension of the temporary reduced rate of VAT beyond 1 April 2022 is a shame, extending that for another six months would have been nice.
• An increase to the national living wage whilst welcome to those employees in the hospitality sector, will have an impact on the employment costs where many staff are on the minimum wage.
• The alcohol duty reform review will be welcome by the industry, and the freezing of the Alcohol duty for a year from 1 February 2022.  Particularly good news is the lower rate of duty on draught beer from the pub!

So, a mixed bag – Cheers Rishi