Five organisations representing the UK’s hospitality sectors have joined forces to call for urgent action on energy prices.
UK Hospitality, Night-Time Industries Association, Music Venue Trust, The British Institute of Innkeeping and The British Beer and Pub Association have together written an open letter to the Government, highlighting the ‘existential emergency’ created by rocketing energy prices.
Hospitality operators face average annual bill increases of 300 percent, putting businesses and jobs in the sector at risk. The letter sets out the need for a comprehensive support package, highlighting the fact that hospitality provides 10 percent of jobs in the UK and contributes 5 percent of the country’s gross domestic product. It also notes that a number of energy providers have withdrawn from the hospitality sector entirely, which the organisations say undermines the primary purpose of a free market.
The open letter is as follows:
An Open Letter to HM Government
Pubs, restaurants, music venues, nightclubs, hotels and wider hospitality have reached the point where the conditions for trading are so prohibitive that many venues are already reducing the hours they open their doors. Others are confronted with the threat of permanent closure. With chronic challenges in the supply chain, labour shortages, interest rates and inflation, rocketing energy prices have become a matter of existential emergency for businesses in our sector.
Hospitality operators face average annual bill increases in the region of at least 300%, putting at risk businesses and jobs. It is also increasingly clear that a significant number of energy providers have withdrawn service provision from the Hospitality market altogether. The primary purpose of a free market for energy supply to businesses is to create competition, which leads to improved services, competitive rates, resilient suppliers, and the ability to invest in long term and sustainable solutions to energy demand. In the Hospitality sector, there is unequivocal evidence that this primary purpose is failing.
On Friday, the Government saw fit to declare a drought, in the face of inarguable evidence that weather conditions had caused a threat to the nation. The energy crisis is no less of a threat and deserves similar attention. Not all businesses will be able to survive this onslaught, and those that can will be closely considering how they can keep their costs down just to stay afloat.
Hospitality provides 10% of jobs and 5% of GDP. It can be a powerful driver of economic recovery and growth for the nation, but it urgently needs a kick start. Business and consumer confidence is suffering, and we urgently need the Government and the leadership contenders to outline a support package for the sector.
We urge you not to allow the stasis of party politics to stifle the urgent delivery of action on energy.
