First Labour came for our profits, now they are coming for our customers

It is being structurally undermined. The uncomfortable truth for ministers is this: much of that pressure now comes directly from government policy. Wednesday's Budget only confirms that, once again, the Government is failing to recognise the scale of the problem.

As such, the consequences will continue to be felt far beyond the kitchen pass.

After the Covid-19 pandemic, hospitality leaders aimed for operating profits of around 5%. Today, many are fighting to stay above 1%. That is not a business cycle; that is an existential shift.

How can the government claim that it is prioritising growth while food producers, hospitality businesses and supply chains face mounting costs and chronic staffing gaps?

Over the past two years, we’ve faced food input inflation that has been nothing short of punishing.

Almost all of it traces back to energy - the invisible force inside every ingredient. When those costs spiralled, we did what responsible businesses do: we adjusted menus, increased prices modestly and tried to protect our teams.

The result was a 15% drop in bookings. We responded; we cut margins by 5%, reworked dishes, and even adopted shrinkflation to keep things viable. Now we buy whole sirloins and butcher them in-house - essentially becoming our own meat processor overnight.

That may sound like another statement of our craftsmanship, but let’s be clear: a hospitality business rarely does this unless the economics force them to.

Staffing has been one of the few bright spots for us, but even that comes at a cost. Employer National Insurance alone now takes an extra £34,000 out of our business each year – that’s before any consideration is made for today’s announcement of another increase to minimum wage, enforced next April.

That is money that could go into training, investment or improving customer experience - instead, it disappears before a single plate leaves the kitchen.

This is why the idea that hospitality is underperforming because of “market forces” is a myth. The pressures are engineered.

Government talks about enterprise while simultaneously announcing a tourist tax and a freeze on income tax brackets, both of which will have disastrous impacts on the economy and hospitality industry.

Where tax revenue might once have been fed back into the local authority, the tourism tax will now see that ultimately absorbed by Westminster.

Meanwhile, customers will avoid spending even more than they already are, due to having even less money in their pockets. Less spending, less savings, less investment for the future.

This signals one thing: a deep disconnect from real-world operators.

If the Government cared about growing the economy, they would move the income tax bands in line with inflation and prevent further fiscal drag, so people have a chance to enjoy themselves with a nice meal

Hospitality doesn’t need handouts. It needs predictability, stability and a fiscal framework that doesn’t punish the act of employing people, feeding communities, and keeping high streets alive.

I am one of thousands of hospitality operators that believes in responsibility, hard work and growth. Growth is impossible if the state treats businesses as an endless source of revenue rather than the engine of national prosperity.

Despite everything thus far, we’ve kept moving forward. We’ve invested in robotics and AI to improve efficiency. We’ve redesigned processes to protect jobs.

We’ve persisted because that is what operators do. But innovation should be a choice born of ambition, not a last-ditch tool to survive policy-induced pressure.

The Budget could have been an opportunity for the Chancellor to show she understands the difference; to move beyond slogans and deliver the stability that farms, producers, suppliers and restaurants urgently need.

The government says it wants growth. If so, it must start with the businesses that create it - not burden them further. Because hospitality isn’t asking for help.

What Britain’s food and drink sector is asking for is remarkably simple: stop making things worse. It’s asking for the chance to breathe.

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Ed Surman is the Owner and Commercial Director of The Nook On Five

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