Amid the myriad of reactions from hospitality operators and business leaders to last year’s budget, one, in particular, stood out. As the sector begun to digest the impact of the business rates changes announced by the Chancellor in November, as well as the property revaluations guidance published following the fiscal statement, Loungers chairman Alex Reilley took to X and said: “Our trade bodies work hard and are dealing with a government that’s clearly not prepared to listen nor seem to have ANY respect for our sector.
“It must be extremely soul-destroying knowing you’re shouting into a void and whilst I’m often critical of our trade body representatives, I have the utmost respect for their efforts. That said, we’re not getting anywhere! Surely now is the time to recognise that instead of numerous trade bodies each with differing agendas, hospitality needs one organisation and ONE VOICE?”
Reilley’s statement speaks to frustrations heard elsewhere too; a suggestion that the sector needs to rethink how it engages with and lobbies the government. After all, this isn’t the first time businesses have been left undone by a budget.
Back in October, Tim Bird, co-founder of the seven-strong Cheshire Cat Pubs & Bars group, penned a column in The Morning Advertiser that questioned whether the sector was asking for too much in hospitality lobbying.
“Do we moan about too many things,” he posited. “Having talked in the past to the former Chancellor of the Exchequer, when he was ‘in power’ and regularly to our local MP, they felt that, as an industry, we ask for too many things at once and the ‘bodies’ that represent us seem to want different things to each other to suit their own agendas. These are their words, not mine, and that our approach as an industry is somewhat fragmented… a ‘scatter gun’ approach was the expression used. We try to hit everything rather than hitting one thing at a time with true conviction and precision.”
Hospitality’s challenge
A change in tack is certainly an issue worth exploring, but first it would be wise to consider exactly how the hospitality sector communicates with the government. The trade body at the forefront of industry’s messaging is UKHospitality (UKH), which represents more than 750 members and 123,000 venues across the sector. As its CEO Allen Simpson puts it, securing pollical change requires two things.
“You need to make the issue public, so the government feel pressure. And the second thing you need to do is take solutions to government,” he explains. “If you can’t do both you don’t get change.”
For hospitality specifically, though, Simpson points to a third, bigger challenge: making the case for why the sector matters in the first place. “If you look at the last year and a half, we’ve seen a government with an industrial strategy that excludes hospitality, and time and again across trade policy, tax, regulation, skills policy, across the board hospitality gets forgotten.”
To some degree, Simpson says the sector needs to think of the government as being like an investor relations audience. “You can’t keep telling them everything is rubbish, because then the government wonders why it should help,” he continues. “But equally there’s no point pretending everything is brilliant. You need to make an argument for what the government gets if it supports the sector.”
Successful lobbying strategies
UKHospitality is one of several major trade bodies to lobby the government on behalf of the sector. Others include the British Beer & Pub Association (BBPA), the British Institute of Innkeeping (BII), and the Night Time Industries Association (NTIA). The latter, which represents close to 10,000 businesses across the UK’s night-time economy, is led by Michael Kill, who likens the process of lobbying to a complex network of levers. The key, he says, is pulling the right one.
“What I’ve learnt the hard way is that while we talk about lobbying from our perspective, lobbying also happens internally within government across different departments. So, what we’re relying on is the incentive, the data, the leverage presented by us and positioning to then be accommodated as a lobbying drive for internal departments to plead our case and try to secure those changes or commitments.”
Strategies employed by the NTIA include the use of data provisions. The group has a quarterly report that benchmarks business thoughts and concerns, which goes to every MP and councillor across the country. It also has a similar analysis that collates consumer sentiment. It has also had success through grassroots efforts such as encouraging its members and supporters of a specific issue to write to directly to their MP.
Having talked in the past to the former Chancellor of the Exchequer, when he was ‘in power’ and regularly to our local MP, they felt that, as an industry, we ask for too many things at once
Tim Bird
When it comes to campaigning and setting an agenda around an event such as the budget, Kill says the industry standard is to base the messaging around ‘three key asks’. “We’re constantly engaging with government, meeting MPs, and driving an agenda relevant to the timelines around a budget or legislative instrument coming through.
“We get notified of that and then get the opportunity to consult, but we also have to make a decision on whether the direction for travel for government is right, whether we can influence, or whether we need to use external forces to push our message.”
These external forces can also include all-party parliamentary groups such as the Hospitality and Tourism APPG, which can help drive an agenda. Another key cog is the media, whose interventions can help shape both the public and political agenda.
“It is a very constructive joined up approach with lots of moving parts,” Kill continues. “Ultimately, though, it all comes down to political will, and when you’ve got something like a budget the challenge you have is it’s a very closed door.
“You have your moment with ministers and cabinet members and put your case across, but some of these meetings involve 60 to 80 voices and representatives from across different industries. And they’re all fighting for their own domain and asks.”
Alternative ideas
How then can the sector better amplify its voice? Bird has a suggestion; one that’s no doubt reflective of his positioning as an SME. “I believe you need a non-fee-paying group to campaign for us alongside the trade bodies,” he says. “A group dedicated to supporting independent operators.”
While he acknowledges that they can be representative of the industry, Bird likens the trade bodies to ‘members club’ who are focused on ‘fighting for what members are paying for’.
“I think the bodies, while they’re being paid, will only really represent the noise of those they’re being paid by,” he continues. “And in the end, our industry needs representatives that take no money. They just care passionately about the industry, and they go to the Treasury and the government and explain just what it’s like.”
Surely now is the time to recognise that instead of numerous trade bodies each with differing agendas, hospitality needs one organisation and ONE VOICE?”
Alex Reilley
Bird himself appears up for the task, but finding a wide enough group of business leaders willing to freely give their own time to represent the needs and views of the industry in government meetings and beyond could prove to be a tough ask.
For Reilley, the solution is in concentrating the efforts of different trade bodies across the sector into a singular voice. “We need to reflect on where we’re at, what we want to try and achieve and how best to get it,” he says.
“The various trade bodies we have, have worked and lobbied really hard, but let’s be honest, they’ve been pretty ineffective. I don’t think that’s necessarily a criticism of any one individual, but it is an issue that the sector must get to terms with. We have to realise that effectively having a number of different voices that speak for either the sector as a whole or subsectors within it is probably unhelpful.”
He points to Germany, which has one main trade body, Dehoga Bundesverband (German Hotel and Restaurant Association). Last year, the group successfully lobbied for a permanent reduction of VAT on restaurant food sales with the German government confirming it will permanently reintroduce a reduced 7% VAT rate for food served in restaurants, cafes, and for catering services from 1 January 2026.
“If you’re a member of UKH or the BBPA, you’re putting a lot of money into different organisations,” Reilley continues. “Imagine how much more financial firepower we could have as a sector if we put that all into one body. We could improve our approach to lobbying, and commission better reporting to tell the story of the sector better.”
A joined-up approach
Kill is sympathetic to the frustrations of businesses who want to see a more joined-up approach, adding that it is something the NTIA, alongside others, are working on developing through 2026. “It’s something we completely agree about and we’re working on in the background,” he continues. “The challenge is there are consistent pieces, but also inconsistencies that make it difficult for a collective voice sometimes.”
Recently, Kill joined a dinner with representatives from 30 other trade organisations where the focus was on how to collectively move forward together with the same messaging. “It’s about networking and sharing interests and knowledge, and if we can start on that basis then we can build something that allows us to collectively talk with one voice.”
If you’re a member of UKH or the BBPA, you’re putting a lot of money into different organisations. Imagine how much more financial firepower we could have as a sector if we put that all into one body.
Alex Reilley
For Simpson, the focus going into the new year is ensuring UKH continues to carry on making the case for the sector and supporting those within it who want to campaign, whether or not they are a member. “Our trade body was founded to be one voice for the sector,” he says. “We’ve got pubs, hotels, cafes, restaurants, tourism sites, catering and nightclubs in our membership. We have the breadth of the sector, but clearly, we don’t have everyone in the sector.
“It’s a very big, very diverse industry and people do have disagreements over what we should be asking for and how we should be asking for it. My job is to provide the maximum possible platform so that those people can campaign as effectively as they want to.”
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