Simon Rimmer: Cutting VAT would give hospitality 'a fighting chance'

Simon Rimmer has warned there is a “crisis” in the hospitality industry after being forced to close his Manchester restaurant, Greens.

The chef announced the closure of the Didsbury site last week after 33 years of trading.

He said a 35% rent hike and the rising cost of energy, food and staff wages had made the business “unviable”.

A mounting number of restaurants have announced their closure since the start of the year, including the Purefoy Arms in Hampshire, Romulo Café in London's Kensington and Kindle in Cardiff.

Speaking on Good Morning Britain, Rimmer said: “There is a crisis in our industry. I think hospitality is really struggling, as many industries are. I don’t think we’re unique.

“If you look at post-covid, the cost of heat, light and power has gone up by in the region of 400% for more businesses.”

He added: “I’ve been through two major recessions since we opened the restaurant in the last 33 years. During those you think, ok we’ll come out the other side of this. We’ve hit the point now, and I think many hospitality businesses are the same, where you go, I actually can’t afford to open the doors.

“No matter what I do, I can’t charge enough to make a small amount of profit. You see that profit getting squeezed and squeezed, and that’s where we’ve ended up.”

The chef said the cheaper cost of food in retail meant supermarkets were the “main competitor” against hospitality.

He described the closure of Greens as “heartbreaking” and said the restaurant had still been busy after 33 years in business.

When asked what could be done to help the industry, Rimmer said a VAT cut would “really, really help”.

“It’s not that we’re closing because it isn’t busy, we can’t make enough money, or any money in fact really," he added.

"If [VAT} was halved from 20% to 10% it would give us a fighting chance."