To Lloyd Hatton MP for South Dorset,

Hospitality is being taxed to death.  On your watch.  Re-valuation of Business Rates has disproportionately hit hospitality.  Employment cost increases have disproportionately hit hospitality.  Inflated energy costs hit hospitality hard.  Alcohol duty hits hospitality.  It is estimated that when someone pays £5 for a pint in a pub, 40-50% of that goes to the government in tax.  That is simply an unsustainable level of tax. The recent 15% discount on already exorbitant Business Rates, is only the tip of the tax iceberg. The industry isn’t asking for handouts or special treatment, just fair and balanced taxation.

In your constituency, there are estimated to be 100 pubs, 170 restaurants/cafes, and 130 hotels - approximately 400 businesses.  Dorset Council’s area profile estimates 5,000 hospitality jobs in your constituency - the largest employment sector in South Dorset and 21% of all local jobs.  Across the UK, we are talking about 2.6 million hospitality jobs, which are at risk because of an unsustainable tax burden. Hospitality provides a lot of entry-level jobs, particularly for young people and parents.  Many young people have their first employment experience in hospitality, this is where a lot of people learn a work-culture, reliability, accountability, teamwork.  For people who go on to other careers, hospitality is often where they learnt these important transferable skills, that later serve the wider UK economy.  Hospitality also offers a lot of flexible part-time opportunities, which can be vital for a second job, or fitted around family life.  In the UK there are now 957,000 NEETs - young people “Not in Education, Employment or Training” - these are people who could be working in hospitality, if we could afford to employ them.  Without entry level jobs, when will this generation enter the workforce?

The government has spent £377M saving 2,700 British Steel jobs in Scunthorpe.   Hospitality doesn’t need a massive bail-out like the steel industry, just fair and balanced taxation.

Hospitality, in particular pubs, are an important part of our nation’s cultural identity, these are community hubs in an increasingly isolated world.  Pubs provide a third place - somewhere people can socialise, relax, and unwind, between work and home.  Many pubs are less “boozy” than they once were, and now offer a wider range of refreshment and activities to appeal to all people - you don’t just see traditional activities like a pub quiz, pool or darts, but more modern activities like pottery, board game night or drawing classes too.  Grassroots music venues are the R&D dept for our nations musicians, almost every successful British music artist, from Iron Maiden to Ed Sheeran, started out playing gigs to a small crowd in a British pub.  Pubs tackle loneliness and provide a safe and supervised space - the opposite of alcohol purchased from a supermarket.  When a supermarket sells alcohol, they aren’t responsible after you’ve left the car park. Hospitality provides a safe, supervised, space, and has a duty of care to its patrons - which is not cheap to provide.  Supermarkets have a much lower tax-exposure than hospitality businesses, and undercut pubs who are providing so much more to society. Hospitality just needs fair and balanced taxation.

South Dorset hospitality, not only has to compete with being undercut by supermarkets, but also comparable resorts in our European neighbours.  In France and Spain they give hospitality a reduced VAT rate of 10% on accommodation and restaurant meals.  Additionally in France, cultural tickets for live theatre, concerts and music are only levied 5.5% VAT.  In Ireland, VAT on catering and restaurant services is just 9% and in Germany just 7%.  The UK levies the second highest rate of beer duty in Europe - in Germany alcohol duty on beer is 0.03€, fourteen times less than in the UK.  UK hospitality is only asking for fair and balanced taxation.

You have campaigned for MEMO in Portland, but that’s only expected to provide 100 direct jobs.   Indirect MEMO jobs will be within the beleaguered hospitality sector who can’t afford to employ people.   Celebrating 100 new jobs at MEMO Portland, whilst taxing hospitality out of existence, is the employment equivalent of rearranging the deckchairs on the Titanic as it sinks.  We need our local representative standing up for the 5,000 South Dorset hospitality jobs, today.   Hospitality businesses don't need subsidies or grants, just fair and balanced taxation.

We, the undersigned, ask you to fight for your constituency, this industry and these jobs.  Talk isn’t a solution, we need to see actions by your government to reduce the tax burden on hospitality to a fair and balanced level.