Stuart Anderson MP wants to kickstart a "national conversation" about support for the independent hospitality sector, after it emerged that one hundred pubs are closing every month. Now, analysis has found that reforms to business rates will strip Shropshire's hospitality businesses of support worth £1.5 million.
Stuart is supporting South Shropshire's independent hospitality and catering businesses, and has urged fellow residents to do the same. It is part of Independent Hospitality Week, which is running between 5th and 11th May 2025.
The nationwide campaign has been designed to champion independent and family run bars, cafes, restaurants, pubs, and other venues that enrich local communities with their unique brands of hospitality.
The Nationwide Caters Association (NCASS), which is running the campaign, is asking people to "come together" and shout about how much their independent hospitality venues mean to them.
Now, Stuart wants to make it as easy as possible for people to eat and drink local in their local areas. It comes as the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) has revealed that 303 pubs closed their doors in the first three months of 2025.
Stuart has said that this will be compounded by a reduction in the generosity of the Retail, Hospitality and Leisure (RHL) Relief Scheme. A 75% discount on business rates for hospitality enterprises was introduced after the 2019 General Election and had been renewed every year since.
However, Labour Chancellor Rachel Reeves has announced that she will cut the discount to 40%. The change has raised tax liabilities for 410 pubs in Shropshire by £3,640 on average. This withdraws support worth £1.5 million from the sector in Shropshire and £925 million on a national scale.
Meanwhile, April's hike in employer's National Insurance Contributions (NICs) increased statutory employment costs by £800 per employee. Pubs have told Stuart they have paused recruitment plans as a result.
To mitigate the impact of these changes, Stuart has called on the Chancellor to restore the generosity of the Retail, Hospitality and Leisure (RHL) Relief Scheme. He has also called for a cut in VAT levied on the sale of food and hot beverages in sold these venues.
At 20%, the rate is currently the highest in Europe. So, he believes it should be cut to 12.5%. Stuart's petition was launched in December 2024, when 25 businesses in Ludlow rallied together to call for the rate to be permanently cut.
Stuart's petition has since been signed over 100 times including by 57 pubs, bars, and restaurants in his constituency of South Shropshire. UK Hospitality has estimated that a VAT cut could create 21,971 jobs across the West Midlands over a ten-year period - with additional turnover of £544 million.
Stuart Anderson MP said:
"On Independent Hospitality Week, I want to kickstart a national conversation about how we can better support this valued sector. Hospitality businesses in South Shropshire are an integral part of our rural economy. Yet, they are on a knife edge with a depressing number of them having been put up for conversion into other uses. Now, the government's changes to business rates relief deprives Shropshire's hospitality businesses of support worth £1.5 million. It is compounded by hikes in national insurance, which costs £800 for each employee taken on. This has resulted in one hundred pubs closing each month in the UK. So, I have urged the Chancellor to restore the generosity of business rates relief for Shropshire's hospitality businesses and cut the amount of VAT charged on food sales in them."
