Sacha Lord reacts to the Chancellor's Autumn Budget

Sacha Lord, who holds the position of one of three night time economy advisers in the UK, has reacted to the announcements made in the Government's Autumn Budget on 30 October. 

He said, “This budget will put an undeniable toll on small businesses. While I appreciate growth must be the priority, businesses cannot absorb rising costs with such small margins and still be viable.

“In the past five years, the number of restaurants in the UK has dropped by a fifth and I am extremely concerned this rate of closure will now double in the years ahead as business owners find themselves in unsustainable financial positions.”

“This budget has shown that treating all businesses the same is just no longer sustainable. Restaurants, hotels, pubs, and bars operate on an entirely different model than the leisure and retail sectors, yet our businesses are being treated, taxed and regulated in the same manner. The high street has changed, and the way we approach budgetary decisions and policies must too. We need targeted support and dedicated representation as a single industry, before we reach a point of no return in the slow devastation of our once proud night culture.”

On the planned changes to employer pay and business rates, Sacha said, 

“Increases to employers' national insurance and the minimum wage will place even more strain on business owners. Increasing these costs without providing support for them to do is a broken model and will only ever lead to more businesses shutting their doors.

“I am extremely concerned by the impending loss of thousands of jobs in our sector and will be raising these with the Government and the Treasury with urgency.

“Business rate reliefs have been a lifeline for hospitality over the past few years. The partial extension of this relief from 75% to 40% will save jobs, but this will still not be enough for many and we will see restaurants and bars now facing unsustainable increases to their rates bills”