26 February 2026
Southampton hospitality businesses are calling for change. Many of our businesses are facing unprecedented challenges. Now more than ever, their voices need to be heard.
Spencer Bowman, Founder of Mettricks, and Board Director for GO! Southampton is sending a letter to the Chancellor of the Exchequer that highlights the struggles, resilience and vital contribution of the hospitality sector to our city. The letter written on behalf of the newly formed Hospitality Action Group is being facilitated and backed by GO! Southampton, and we need your help!
We know that hospitality businesses across Southampton, including our BID members, want to invest, employ, and, most importantly, survive. With a fair and balanced tax environment, the sector can create jobs, strengthen communities and bring life to our high streets. Without prompt reform, closures will continue, and the social and economic cost to cities will deepen.
In operational terms, UK hospitality businesses typically face a combined tax burden equivalent to approximately 25-30% of turnover, including VAT, employer National Insurance, business rates and other indirect taxes. This places the UK as the most heavily taxed hospitality market in Europe. No other major UK industry trades at such a structural tax disadvantage.
The letter asks for:
- A more balanced VAT framework for hospitality aligned with European competitors – a cut on hospitality VAT to 10-15%
- Commitment to meaningful reform of business rates to reflect modern trading realities. Shifting the burden away from physical high streets and recognising the public value hospitality brings to communities and places
- Recognition of hospitality as a high-employment sector through the tax system, providing entry-level opportunities through to lifelong careers
- A reset to a permanently lower, and then stable, overall hospitality tax regime, allowing sustainable margins, investment, employment and growth
All businesses and organisations are encouraged to sign – we need strength in numbers!
Please submit your support by Monday 2 March, 5pm.
Show your support by going here and adding your name: Hospitality Letter – GO! Southampton
Our businesses got the chance to speak on Voice FM Radio about the issues they are facing. Take a listen below: