‘We understand hospitality businesses want more help,’ says minister

The minister with responsibility for the hospitality industry has said that the government “understands” that businesses want more financial support.

Kevin Hollinrake, minister for enterprise, market and small business, told UKHospitality’s Workforce and Skills conference in London that he was aware of the problems impacting the industry, including rising energy bills and inflation.

“Of course, businesses want more help,” he said. “I understand that, the chancellor understands that too. But we need to strike a difficult balance between helping businesses and those families most in need, while at the same time continue to restore public finances.”

Hospitality trade bodies have been building pressure on the chancellor to help the sector in the run up to the Spring Budget on 15 March.

Hollinrake also praised the industry’s resilience and said it was a “key engine of growth” in the economy.

“Across the country, millions of people work in pubs, bars and restaurants. But quite often, the jobs are undervalued and the sector overlooked,” he said.

“It is true, the sector offers accessible entry-level jobs, but they are not low-skilled jobs – far from it. It's also a misconception that hospitality does not provide opportunities for rewarding careers.

“The sector is like any other with all the opportunities other sectors provide in terms of career development. We just need to be as good at selling the opportunity as we are selling the system that people can see the potential for a rich and rewarding career in hospitality.”

Following the minister’s speech, the government published an update on its hospitality strategy which was launched in July 2021 and has been overseen by a dedicated council co-chaired by dame Karen Jones.

The strategy set out 22 commitments to deliver a recovery plan for the sector, including overcoming recruitment challenges.

According to the update, the aggregate output of the hospitality sector has now surpassed pre-pandemic levels. Output was 7.1% above 2019 levels in 2022, having increased since April 2021.

However, the industry has continued to struggle with skills shortages and the update pointed to three areas the council has been working on since 2021. A push to improve vocational training will see a T Level in catering introduced in September 2023 and the development of new occupational standards in Lead Baker (Level 3) and Pastry Chef (Level 3) apprenticeships.

The board supported the creation of the Hospitality Rising recruitment campaign, which has received 72,409 job applications since it launched last October. It has also developed an employee wellbeing checklist for the hospitality sector to give employers guidance on tipping, flexible work, progression and diversity and inclusion, which will be distributed through trade bodies and partner organisations.