‘Push everybody to the petition’ - Tom Kerridge on VAT campaign

Tom Kerridge has urged the whole hospitality industry to unite behind a new campaign calling for VAT to be cut from 20% to 10%.

The chef and publican is helping spearhead VAT’s The Problem, a nationwide petition aiming to secure one million signatures in support of a reduced VAT rate for hospitality businesses.

The campaign argues that cutting VAT would bring the UK closer to parts of Europe, where hospitality VAT rates are lower, and give restaurants, pubs, hotels and cafes vital room to survive, invest and grow.

>>> SIGN THE PETITION HERE <<<

Tom, chef owner of two-Michelin-starred The Hand and Flowers in Marlow, is one of the most high-profile voices in British hospitality.

His group also includes Michelin-starred The Coach and Kerridge’s Bar & Grill, while his TV work, books and public campaigning have made him one of the industry’s most recognisable figures.

Speaking to The Staff Canteen, Tom said the campaign had been around eight weeks in planning and followed conversations with government, trade bodies and operators across hospitality.

He said: “It came from initial conversations that I've had at the beginning of the year with front bench ministers from business and trade and culture secretaries within government.

“Then doing things like Newsnight and Question Time and having those conversations, listening and knowing that, behind the scenes, government is listening and knows that they need to do something and knows that operationally VAT is a position that needs to be looked at for a stimulus and for a growth prospect.

“Knowing that Andy Burnham and Angela Rayner both announced about eight weeks ago that VAT is something that needs to be looked at for hospitality, I had a conversation with Nick MacKenzie, CEO of Greene King Pubs.

“It was to say I really do believe that this is a moment in time and an opportunity as they are listening.”

Why VAT is the big problem

Tom said the campaign had been built to give the industry one clear message, rather than multiple groups pushing separate asks around business rates, beer duty or other pressures.

He said: “Quite often everybody's asking for different things, whether it's beer duty or business rates, because everyone is fighting for their small different areas and different sectors of their business that they represent.

“But actually, the one contributing factor that affects all of us is this.”

Ongoing pressures for hospitality

The campaign comes amid continued pressure on hospitality businesses, with operators facing rising wage costs, national insurance increases, business rates, food inflation and energy bills.

Tom said: “It doesn't matter what sector of the industry you're in, those five factors have meant that every bit of profit in every part of the industry is struggling.

 “The problem is business modelling to present to Treasury to show that this is about long-term growth.

“This isn't just a bailout that we're asking here. This is about providing businesses with an opportunity to give it oxygen, to breathe, to grow, to be a part of it.”

One million target

The petition has set a target of one million signatures, with hospitality businesses encouraged to push the campaign, ahead of the next phase of from July 1, aimed more at customers.

Asked whether he was confident the target could be reached, Tom said: “I don't do things by half. It's a big number.

“We got 40,000 in the first day, so that’s 4% already.

“But there's three million people that work in hospitality. If you get everybody in your business, if every hotel manager, every general manager, everybody in their business says, sign this, if everybody in the food sector, everybody in fisheries and farming, says to all of their staff, sign this.

“It's not a political viewpoint, it's helping everybody connect together.

“We need noise, we need effort, energy and everybody in the industry to be behind it.”

He added: “There's nearly five million people that are affected with hospitality and hospitality lives and jobs.

“And then on top of that, there's everybody in the country that goes to a coffee shop, a sandwich shop, their local restaurant, or goes to a Wetherspoons for a pint after work.

“It is about getting everybody to sign up to this.”

‘Instant relief’

Tom said a VAT cut from 20% to 10% would have an immediate impact on operators already struggling to stay open, with three hospitality venues per day closing currently.

He said: “It's absolutely huge - 10% of revenue coming back into that business is the difference between staying open and shutting from many, many places.

“It gives an instant relief. It's a breathing space.

“I would hope it's a very realistic conversational starting point. That is the dream and I can't see a reason why we should settle for anything else.”

He added that the issue was not simply about customer numbers, but the cost of operating hospitality businesses.

Tom said: “There are people going to the pub. It's not the lack of people going out. It's the cost that goes into the restaurant or the pub or the hotel that means that it isn't operating and making any more money.

“Because by the time you start putting those costs up, people cannot afford to go out. They can't be there.”