The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Rishi Sunak, announced at the recent NFU Conference that an annual UK-wide Food Security Index would be produced and that a 'Farm to Fork Summit' would become an annual event.
UKHospitality chief executive, Kate Nicholls, spoke at the NFU Conference to discuss the future of the British hospitality industry and backed the measures outlined by the Prime Minister.
Nicholls said that food is at the absolute core of hospitality's offering and robust food security in the United Kingdom was critical to its venues.
"It’s essential to maintain continuous supply and also to offer our customers the high-quality food they rightly demand. Both of the measures announced by the Prime Minister are very positive, and I’m pleased that the Government is building on the success of the farm-to-fork summit held last year," said Nicholls.
She added that it was a delight to be involved with the previous summit, and that it was important that hospitality continues to be a central part of the work.
“After all, hospitality feeds around 20 million people each week and is a significant route to market for food producers.”
The hospitality industry in the United Kingdom has been through a turbulent period since the Covid-19 pandemic. Recently, the United Kingdom fell into a technical Recession at the end of 2023, as proved by GDP figures. The GDP shrank in both Q3 and Q4 by 0.1 percent and 0.3 percent, respectively. Despite those two quarters, GDP across the entirety of 2023 grew marginally by 0.1 percent.
Nicholls said that the economy officially entering a technical recession is hugely concerning.
Consumer confidence has already taken a huge hit over the past year as the cost-of-living crisis bites and today’s news will dent it even further. That will be a big worry for hospitality businesses up and down the country, as they need support from consumers more than ever."
UKHospitality has urged the Chancellor to look to hospitality as a sector that has a proven track record of driving growth and stimulating demand in the economy ahead of the upcoming budget.
“Introducing a lower rate of VAT for hospitality and capping business rates increases would allow venues to reduce those incredibly high business costs and keep price rises at bay – that would be good for the public, businesses and the economy.”
