04/06/2026
Before you scroll past, ask yourself this:
How many local pubs, cafés, bars and restaurants have disappeared in the last few years?
Now ask yourself how many more we can afford to lose.
This isn’t just about the businesses that are here today.
It’s about the ones that haven’t opened yet.
The young couple dreaming of opening their first café.
The chef wanting to launch their own restaurant.
The family taking a chance on a local pub.
The entrepreneur with an idea that could bring life back to an empty shop unit.
We have spent all our lives in hospitality.
We’ve seen our industry navigate smoking bans, recessions, Covid, lockdowns and everything else that has been thrown at it.
What worries us most isn’t hard work. Hospitality people aren’t scared of hard work.
What worries us is seeing good operators, good venues and good people working harder than ever and ending up with less to show for it.
Over the last few years, local hospitality businesses have absorbed hit after hit.
Food costs up.
Drinks up.
Utilities up.
Insurance up.
Wages up.
National Insurance up.
Business rates up.
PRS & PPL up.
Yet somehow we’re expected to keep prices affordable, maintain standards, invest in staff and continue being the places where communities come together.
As business owners, we understand that taxes need to be paid and public services funded. But there comes a point where the pressure becomes unsustainable.
Hospitality isn’t just about serving food and drink.
It’s first jobs.
It’s local suppliers.
It’s charities raising money.
It’s sports teams getting sponsored.
It’s friends meeting after work.
It’s families celebrating milestones.
It’s the heartbeat of our high streets.
Every time a pub, café, restaurant or bar closes, a little piece of that disappears.
At Café Stella, The Gindependent and now G&TeaTime, we’ve always believed hospitality is about more than selling food and drink.
We’ve supported local charities, sponsored local causes, created jobs, hosted community events and played our small part in helping make Leigh a place people want to spend time in.
And we’re far from alone.
Thousands of hospitality businesses across the country are doing exactly the same thing every single day.
That’s why we’re supporting the conversation around reducing VAT for hospitality and looking at ways to give businesses the breathing space to invest, grow and employ more local people.
Whether you agree with the solution or not, one thing is hard to ignore:
If we want thriving town centres, we need thriving hospitality businesses.
Because once these independent venues are gone, they’re incredibly difficult to bring back.
This isn’t really about VAT.
It’s about people.
It’s about jobs.
It’s about communities.
It’s about giving existing businesses a chance to survive and future businesses a chance to start.
It’s about the business owner working 70 hours a week and not paying themselves this month because their staff’s wages come first.
It’s about the café owner, pub landlord, bar operator and restaurant owner carrying the stress, the risk and the responsibility so others can stay employed.
It’s about protecting the places that give our towns their character and keep our high streets alive.
That’s a conversation worth having.
If we don’t fight for hospitality in our towns, who will?
Alex & Zoe
Whose with us
https://www.vatstheproblem.co.uk/
Tom Kerridge
