Chefs and restaurateurs including Simon Rogan, Ravneet Gill, Vivek Singh, Jackson Boxer, Scott Collins and Zoe Paskin have lent their support to the #TaxedOut campaign, launched by London on the Inside and UKHospitality, which is directed at chancellor Rachel Reeves.
The open letter to Reeves calls on the Government to act to support the hospitality industry and introduce measures including cutting the rate of VAT down from 20%, fixing NICs to boost jobs, and reducing business rates to give long-term support to the high street.
Rachel Reeves’s autumn budget will take place on 26 November, the treasury has announced today (3 September) with potential tax changes on the cards.
The letter says that ‘restaurants, bars, pubs, and cafés in London and across the rest of the UK are being squeezed out of existence’ and describes a perfect storm of ‘rising rent and energy costs, hefty tax burdens, a customer base grappling with a cost-of-living crisis, and higher wage bills - as a result of the increased National Insurance contributions introduced in the last Budget’.
It cites a survey by UKHospitality in May that shows that one-third of hospitality businesses are operating at a loss, with 76% having had to increase prices and 63% having reduced the hours available to staff.
It also cites ONS figures that show payrolled employees in hospitality fell by over 124,000 between May 2024 and May 2025, and that from the August 2025 Hospitality Market Monitor report that shows that the number of UK hospitality venues fell by 374 in the first six months of the year, equating to 62 net closures per month, or two per day.
Launching the campaign, London on the Inside says: “We know that, in a world facing ongoing global conflicts and crises, highlighting the challenges of hospitality may seem secondary. But the reality is stark: costs continue to rise while consumers are unable to afford higher prices.
“Operators are trapped in an unsustainable position, leading to closures, job losses and real risks to one of the UK’s most vital industries. Hospitality is not a luxury. It is the UK’s third-largest employer and a critical driver of the economy. Without bold intervention, its future is in jeopardy.”