{"id":46216,"date":"2025-08-05T19:20:19","date_gmt":"2025-08-05T19:20:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/46216\/"},"modified":"2025-08-05T19:20:19","modified_gmt":"2025-08-05T19:20:19","slug":"reeves-thrusts-hospitality-into-survival-mode-as-venue-closures-surge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/46216\/","title":{"rendered":"Reeves thrusts hospitality into &#8216;survival mode&#8217; as venue closures surge"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>            Two venues shut per day day in first half after employers&#8217; labour costs rise\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"author-section byline-plain\">By EMILY HAWKINS <a rel=\"nofollow noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/follow?screen_name=emilyhwkns&amp;tw_p=followbutton\" class=\"twitter-follow-author\"><\/a> <\/p>\n<p class=\"byline-section\"> Updated:  08:49 EDT, 5 August 2025   <\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">Rachel Reeves has been blamed for pushing restaurants and pubs into \u2018survival mode\u2019 as as two venues have shut per day for the first half of 2025.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">The number of hospitality sites plunged by 374 to 98,746 sites at the end of June, sparking fresh concerns about the fight for survival faced by many businesses.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">The closures signalled \u2018the hollowing out of our high streets and communities&#8217;, warned Kate Nicholls, chair of industry group UKHospitality.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">Labour\u2019s tax-raid on employers was blamed for the fall by market research firm NIQ and consultancy AlixPartners, which published the analysis.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">It means that the sector is now 14.2 per cent smaller than at the start of Covid in March 2020, with more than 16,000 net closures over the past five years.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">Researchers pointed to a cocktail of costs including higher National Insurance contributions for employers, business rates and wages.<\/p>\n<p>   <img decoding=\"async\" id=\"i-a7d9f0d7e4ec6823\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/100412227-14971575-image-a-48_1754383410408.jpg\" height=\"572\" width=\"634\" alt=\"The Chancellor's tax-raid on employers was blamed for a surge in hospitality closures\" class=\"blkBorder img-share\" style=\"max-width:100%\" loading=\"lazy\" \/>   <\/p>\n<p class=\"imageCaption\">The Chancellor&#8217;s tax-raid on employers was blamed for a surge in hospitality closures\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">Graeme Smith, a senior partner at AlixPartners, said: \u2018The effects of a step change in costs and taxation, which landed this April, have made the trading environment more challenging for many hospitality businesses.\u2019<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">And UKHospitality\u2019s Nicholls said: \u2018These latest figures are a devastating blow, showing in the starkest terms the impact of Government-driven cost pressures. Two hospitality venues closing every day is not just a statistic; it represents the hollowing out of our high streets and communities.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">\u2018The result is a sector in survival mode, where investment is at a standstill. Businesses are being forced to focus on just keeping the lights on, and growth is secondary.\u2019<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">Businesses to shut sites recently include craft beer maker BrewDog and cocktail bar chain Simmons.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">The worrying figures come just weeks after TV star and landlord Jeremy Clarkson, told The Mail on Sunday that penalising business rates had left publicans &#8216;like Butch and Sundance at the end of the movie \u2013 taking fire from absolutely everywhere&#8217;.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">An industry forecast in June showed that one pub could close every day this year across Britain.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">It comes after Britain&#8217;s hospitality industry was hit by a \u00a3500 million-a-year rise in business rates in April alongside a barrage of other costs imposed by Labour.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">Before the Budget, small businesses had called for a Covid-era discount of 75 per cent on business rates to be extended to give them breathing space. But the Government cut this to a 40 per cent discount, capped at \u00a3110,000 per pub.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">Labour has promised to reform rates, which are a levy based on the notional rental value of a commercial property. This currently means High Street shops and pubs often pay a premium compared with online giants such as Amazon.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">But there have been concerns that Labour&#8217;s reforms will be too little and too late for many firms.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">And there are fears the Government will once more hike taxes on businesses as the government comes under pressure to reduce the country\u2019s huge debt pile.<\/p>\n<p>DIY INVESTING PLATFORMS<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/1754421617_276_A J Bell 2022_122X84.png\" alt=\"Easy investing and ready-made portfolios\" \/>AJ Bell<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/1754421617_276_A J Bell 2022_122X84.png\" alt=\"Easy investing and ready-made portfolios\" \/>AJ Bell<\/p>\n<p>Easy investing and ready-made portfolios<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/HL-Logo_122x84.jpg\" alt=\"Free fund dealing and investment ideas\" \/>Hargreaves Lansdown<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/HL-Logo_122x84.jpg\" alt=\"Free fund dealing and investment ideas\" \/>Hargreaves Lansdown<\/p>\n<p>Free fund dealing and investment ideas<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/ii_thisismoney_122x84.png\" alt=\"Flat-fee investing from \u00a34.99 per month\" \/>interactive investor<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/ii_thisismoney_122x84.png\" alt=\"Flat-fee investing from \u00a34.99 per month\" \/>interactive investor<\/p>\n<p>Flat-fee investing from \u00a34.99 per month<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/1754421618_805_122x84 Blue.png\" alt=\"Account and trading fee-free ETF investing\" \/>InvestEngine<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/1754421618_805_122x84 Blue.png\" alt=\"Account and trading fee-free ETF investing\" \/>InvestEngine<\/p>\n<p>Account and trading fee-free ETF investing<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/1754421619_991_T212Logo_Icon_130x90.png\n\" alt=\"Free share dealing and no account fee\" \/>Trading 212<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/1754421619_991_T212Logo_Icon_130x90.png\n\" alt=\"Free share dealing and no account fee\" \/>Trading 212<\/p>\n<p>Free share dealing and no account fee<\/p>\n<p class=\"tim-affiliate-text\">Affiliate links: If you take out a product This is Money may earn a commission. 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This does not affect our editorial independence.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thisismoney.co.uk\/money\/diyinvesting\/article-1718291\/Pick-best-cheapest-investment-Isa-platform.html?ico=tim-affiliate_desktop_bottom-link-click\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"optional-btn-wrapper\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Compare the best investing account for you <\/a><\/p>\n<p>                    Share or comment on this article:<br \/>\n                        Reeves thrusts hospitality into &#8216;survival mode&#8217; as venue closures surge<\/p>\n<p>        <script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Two venues shut per day day in first half after employers&#8217; labour costs rise\u00a0\u00a0 By EMILY HAWKINS Updated:&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":46217,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[84,1294,2222,3881,3880,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-46216","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-economy","tag-business","tag-economy","tag-money","tag-moneymarkets","tag-thisismoney","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46216","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=46216"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46216\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/46217"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46216"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=46216"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=46216"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}