Almost 89,000 jobs lost in hospitality since Budget as another 5,000 go in past month

Almost 89,000 jobs have been lost in hospitality since last October’s Budget, according to new analysis of Office for National Statistics data by UKHospitality. The sector has accounted for 53% of all 164,641 job losses in the UK since the Budget – more than half of all redundancies. The total includes an additional 5,000 roles lost in the past month alone.

NFFF President, Andrew Crook said:
“This is playing out throughout all of hospitality. Future planned changes to employment law further threaten jobs in the sector, jeopardising the vital role the sector plays providing vital jobs, often the first place of employment for many.

I am looking forward to meeting Gareth Thomas, the Minister of State for Small Business, this afternoon and raising some of these points. There is a danger that Government think business rates reform is the panacea to cure all of hospitality’s woes, and it would suit the large chains rather than help the tens of thousands of independent hospitality businesses up and down the country.”

The scale of the job losses is nearly three times worse than the estimate from the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR), which predicted 50,000 hospitality job cuts as a direct result of changes to employers’ national insurance contributions.

UKHospitality’s analysis shows one in 25 jobs in the sector have now gone, representing 4.1% of the entire hospitality workforce. By proportion, that’s seven times larger than the rate of job losses across the wider UK economy.

The trade body stressed that the changes to employers’ national insurance contributions – in particular the lowering of the threshold – have disproportionately impacted part-time and flexible roles, which are the backbone of the sector.

Kate Nicholls, chair of UKHospitality, said:
“The number of job losses suffered in hospitality since the Budget is staggering. More than half of all job losses since October occurring in hospitality is further evidence that our sector has been by far the hardest hit by the government’s regressive tax increases. The sheer scale of costs being placed upon hospitality has forced businesses to take agonisingly tough decisions to cut jobs – with part-time and flexible roles often those most at risk. At a time when the country needs jobs, the government should be encouraging hospitality to grow and create jobs, not tax them out of existence. The government needs to recognise the devastating impact of its tax increases on working people and communities across the country.”

UKHospitality is calling for urgent action in the autumn Budget, with demands including lowering business rates, fixing national insurance contributions, and cutting VAT. Without intervention, the trade body warns that further closures and job losses across independent businesses are inevitable.