'I've never known it to be this bad...'

Added: 2026-05-17

[00:00:00]I actually think the chancellor has been catastrophic for my sector. So we work well as I'm also chair of the nighttime industry association. So we had a lot of communication when she was in shadow cabinet. I was at the manifesto launch in Manchester when she told the room she was the chancellor of business and growth. That's why I became a Labour party donor. Since then we had a jump in national insurance increase.

[00:00:23]>> We were promised a reform of business rates. Business rates now for a pub on average has gone up 76% for hotels has gone up 115%.

[00:00:32]Independent businesses are closing left, right, and center across the whole of the country. We're now losing two pubs a day. Since she became chancellor, we've lost 120,000 jobs in hospitality. The vast majority of those jobs in are for 18 to 24 year olds who want to support getting through college or university.

[00:00:50]>> Uh I've never known it to be this bad in 30 years of being in this industry. And I'd go as far as to say the sector is finding it tougher now than it is was during