UKHospitality: sector loses 69,000 jobs since Budget
Trade body UKHospitality has urged the government to take action against further job losses, warning that the hospitality sector could be “taxed out” of job creation.
UKHospitality has addressed a letter to the Prime Minister claiming that the 2024 Budget directly contributed to a reversal in hospitality’s ability to create jobs.
The sector lost 69,000 jobs between October 2024 and May 2025, the trade body has said. This is a significant contraction compared with the same period the year prior, which saw an additional 18,000 jobs created in the hospitality industry.
UKHospitality has written to Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer requesting that this year’s Budget, due to take place in late October or early November, should reverse the decisions which led to the losses.
The trade body is calling on government to:
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- Fix National Insurance contributions (NICs) to boost jobs by extending the existing exemptions to include both young people and people moving from welfare to work.
- Lower business rates through the maximum discount of 20p for hospitality businesses as part of the promised business rates reform.
- Cut VAT on hospitality to drive investment by following the majority of European rival nations by reducing VAT on the sector.
The hospitality sector in the UK employs 3.5 million people.
Kate Nicholls, chair of UKHospitality, said: “The NICs change was socially regressive and had a disproportionate effect on entry level jobs. Without a change of tack from the government we could be looking at over 150,000 fewer workers in hospitality, when we should be bringing people into the jobs market.
Nicholls argued that hospitality is essential to the government’s mission of getting more people back into work. “The economy needs jobs. Hospitality creates them. But we are being taxed out,” she said.
She noted that the sector was responsible for creating one in five net new jobs following the financial crisis.
Nicholls added: “The Government needs sectors like hospitality to create jobs and meet their ambition to get more people back into work. We have a proven track record of being able to deliver those jobs in every part of the country and for people from all backgrounds.”
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