The Night Time Industries Association has announced that the Institute of Hospitality is supporting their #LeaveNoOneBehind campaign by sharing the campaign with its 16,000 members.
It comes ahead of the Spring Budget at the beginning of March where the NTIA is calling for a reduced VAT rate of 12.5% across the hospitality, late-night economy, and events sector for the next 12 months and the freezing Alcohol Duty for the next 12 months. These measures, according to the NTIA, “are essential to providing businesses with the financial headroom they need to survive and recover. It is imperative that we act now to ensure that no one is left behind and that our vibrant nighttime economy can once again thrive.” During the pandemic Government excluded wet lead sales businesses from VAT relief and the NTIA is now determined that no one is left behind or marginalised.
The NTIA say that the impact of rising operating costs, combined with substantial debts incurred during the pandemic, have left many businesses teetering on the brink of collapse. A recent survey conducted by the NTIA showed that 7 out of 10 businesses are “either barely breaking even or operating at a loss, with nearly half expressing doubts about their survival in the next 12 months.”
The CEO of the Night Time Industries Association, Michael Kill hopes that the campaign, along with the support of the IoH, can change the course of the crisis for the hospitality and nighttime economy and emphasises that VAT must be lowered to 12.5% for all companies operating in these industries throughout the United Kingdom.
Institute of Hospitality CEO Robert Richardson agreed, “It is an incredibly tough economic climate, and our members and wider hospitality industry are continually updating us that they need additional support to help them continue. Without which many fear they will have to close their doors.
“The Institute’s role is to help support our members to prosper through investing in their people’s professional development and encouraging new talent into the industry. An industry we are incredibly passionate about. This campaign and the work of the NTIA will help protect the future of our members and every community across the UK”.
The partnership comes as a cross party group of MPs, chaired by Stirling MP Alyn Smith, wrote to the Chancellor this week ‘strongly supporting’ an immediate VAT cut with Alyn Smith calling for a cut in the VAT rate for UK hospitality businesses from 20% to 5% to help them survive.
