Budget leaves OOH industry overlooked

The extension of the government's Draught Relief initiative was the main takeaway for wet-led businesses in the spring budget, with many other hospitality concerns, including energy contracts and business rates, left unmentioned.

Elsewhere, a new voluntary employment scheme for disabled people and those with health conditions called Universal Support will be funded in England and Wales. The government says it will spend up to £4,000 per person to find them a suitable role and cater to their needs, supporting 50,000 places per year once fully rolled out.

REACTION
Federation of Small Businesses
“The chancellor has set high expectations for supporting small firms during these challenging times, but today’s budget will leave many feeling short-changed,” said national chair Martin McTague. “The distinct lack of new support in core areas proves that small firms are overlooked and undervalued. 

“We’ve got a budget that on energy helps households but not small firms. On business taxes, it spends £27bn extra on big businesses, arguing that small businesses are already catered for. This will leave to a feeling of being left behind instead of being considered equal partners in economic recovery - trickledown economics here simply does not work.

“While there are some positive words in today’s budget, the government’s lack of support for small firms in critical areas is glaring. The chancellor stressed that the UK is one of the best places to do business and we’ll avoid a technical recession this year – but small businesses need more ambition and more focus.

“Action is what counts if we are to reverse the 500,000 small businesses lost over the last two years. It’s high time the government put small firms at the top of the agenda and lend them the necessary support on the path to economic recovery.”

UKHospitality
"With hospitality businesses continuing to struggle with vacancies running at 56% higher than pre-pandemic levels, the measures announced today are significant in incentivising people back into work and hopefully alleviating crippling labour shortages," said chief executive Kate Nicholls. "The significant reforms to childcare and the measures to help the over 50s re-enter the workforce are both areas on which UKHospitality has been calling for action and we’re pleased the chancellor has recognised the help it can offer tackling the enormous vacancies in hospitality.

"It remains the case that we need to see urgent action on the market failures identified by Ofgem in its non-domestic review update [on 14 March]. The current timeline of further action by the summer is not good enough.

"The reduction in draught duty is positive and we hope this will incentivise more visits to our pubs, restaurants and hotel bars. Addressing draught duty is a good start and I would urge the government to consider rolling out this type of tax cut across the wider drinks market."

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