When Rachel Reeves told Parliament her budget would help struggling hospitality businesses with “the lowest tax rates since 1991,” UK pub owners and hoteliers breathed a sigh of relief. Now that the fine print of changes to business rates — a property tax — has emerged, they’re crying foul.
“Despite her calling out hospitality in the speech, the actual reality is that rates have gone up,” said Phil Urban, chief executive officer of Mitchells & Butlers Plc, the pub operator behind the Nicholson’s and All Bar One chains.
Hotels and pubs were already grappling with soaring costs that ...
