Why the value of our industry goes far beyond the money it generates.
Following last week’s Budget, there’s understandably been plenty of conversation across the hospitality industry about business rates, employment costs, VAT and what the announcements will mean for the businesses we operate. Rightly so. These things matter enormously, particularly when costs continue to rise and margins are under increasing pressure.
There was some welcome recognition of the challenges facing hospitality, particularly around business rates, although I suspect many operators would have liked to see more. But, rather than go through everything the Budget did or didn’t deliver, I wanted to talk about something a little different.
I think we sometimes forget just how important hospitality is to the communities we live in, the people around us and the wider economy, and I think that’s something worth remembering whenever we’re discussing the future of our industry.
Think about where we go at the important moments in our lives
Hospitality businesses play a part in an extraordinary number of the moments that matter to us.
When we’re happy, we go out to celebrate. Birthdays, weddings, anniversaries, engagements, graduations, promotions. We get together with the people we love, have a meal, raise a glass and make memories.
When we’re sad, we often find ourselves in those very same places. The quiet drink with a friend when life isn’t going particularly well. Getting the family together after a funeral to remember someone we’ve lost. Sitting in a café with someone who just needs a bit of company and a chance to talk.
Sometimes we go out because we want to be surrounded by people. Other times, we just want to sit somewhere quietly, have a coffee, read a book and enjoy an hour to ourselves.
We watch the big football matches in pubs, celebrate New Year’s Eve in bars, take our children out for birthday treats, meet friends for Sunday lunch and spend weekends enjoying leisure attractions with our families.
For some people, the weekly visit to their local café or pub is simply part of their routine. For others, it might be one of the few opportunities they have to interact with people during the week.
This is the thing I find quite special about hospitality. We’re there for the big occasions, but we’re also there for the completely ordinary moments in between. The places we operate become part of people’s lives, often without us even realising it.
That restaurant might be where a couple went on their first date and, years later, where they celebrate their wedding anniversary. A particular pub might be where a group of friends have met every Friday for twenty years. A café might be the place someone goes every morning because they know they’ll get a friendly welcome and a conversation with somebody who remembers their name.
These aren’t just places where people spend money; they’re places where people feel connected.
We’re a much bigger industry than people realise
Of course, there’s an enormous economic contribution behind all of this too.
According to the Office for National Statistics, the UK’s accommodation and food service sector accounted for approximately 2.6 million jobs in June 2026. The wider hospitality sector, including businesses such as pubs, restaurants, hotels and leisure venues, employs around 3.6 million people, according to UKHospitality.
That’s a staggering number of people whose livelihoods and families depend on our industry. UKHospitality also estimates that hospitality contributes approximately £96 billion directly to the UK economy every year.
Those jobs and that economic activity are spread right across the country. Hospitality isn’t confined to London’s financial districts or the centres of major cities. It’s in our villages, seaside towns, rural communities, suburbs and high streets.
It’s the little independent café employing six local people, the hotel supporting dozens of jobs, the restaurant buying from nearby suppliers and the leisure venue bringing families into the area.
The economic benefit doesn’t stop at the front door of that venue. When a restaurant is busy, the businesses supplying its food, drink, equipment and services benefit too. When a hotel attracts visitors, those visitors spend money in local shops, cafés and attractions.
A successful hospitality business can help support other businesses around it. That matters enormously, particularly in smaller communities where employment opportunities and local spending can be limited.
An industry that gives people opportunities
There’s another side to hospitality’s employment contribution that I feel particularly strongly about. For an enormous number of people, hospitality is their first experience of working life.
It’s where they learn to deal with customers, work as part of a team, manage difficult situations, take responsibility and develop confidence. They’re skills that stay with you, whatever career you eventually choose, and for those who decide to stay in hospitality, like myself, the opportunities can be fantastic.
I’ve worked with plenty of people who started collecting glasses, washing dishes or waiting tables and went on to become managers and senior leaders. You don’t necessarily need a degree or a traditional career path to build a successful career in our industry.
UKHospitality’s Social Productivity Index recognises the industry’s particularly strong contribution to social mobility and employment opportunities, including for young people and those without university qualifications.
That makes hospitality important for reasons that go well beyond simply the number of jobs it creates. It provides opportunities for people to build careers, gain independence and develop skills they might not otherwise have had the chance to develop. I think we should be incredibly proud of that.
What happens when we lose these places?
We often hear about the decline of our high streets and the challenges facing towns and villages across the country. But I do wonder whether we always appreciate what we lose when a hospitality business closes. It’s not just another empty building.
It’s jobs that have disappeared, customers who no longer have somewhere familiar to go, suppliers who’ve lost business and a community that’s lost somewhere to come together.
Of course, not every hospitality business is a community institution, and not every closure can or should be prevented, but I think we need to recognise the wider role these places play.
A good hospitality business can bring together people who might otherwise never meet. Different generations, backgrounds and walks of life, sharing the same space and enjoying themselves. You only have to spend a bit of time in a good local pub, a busy neighbourhood café or a community leisure venue to see it happening.
The Government’s 2026 Hope on the High Street strategy actually recognises this, highlighting the importance of cafés, pubs, cultural venues and other shared spaces in creating social connections and a sense of belonging. It’s encouraging to see that acknowledged, because I think it’s something that deserves far more attention.
Supporting hospitality means supporting communities
Which brings me back to the Budget.
I completely understand that governments have to make difficult decisions and that every industry will have its own arguments for why it deserves support. Hospitality is no different.
There were measures in the Budget aimed at helping businesses, particularly changes to business rates that will benefit some operators. But the pressures facing the industry are still significant.
Employment costs, property costs, utilities, food and drink prices and the general cost of running a business all affect whether a hospitality venue can remain sustainable, and when those costs become too difficult to manage, the impact can reach much further than the business owner.
That’s why I think it’s important for both central and local government to consider the wider contribution hospitality makes when decisions are being taken. Not just the tax it generates or the jobs it provides, important as those are, but the benefit it brings to communities.
That could mean the way we approach business rates, licensing, planning, investment in our high streets or simply recognising hospitality businesses as important partners in making our towns and cities better places to live.
I don’t think hospitality should expect special treatment simply because it’s hospitality, but I do think its contribution deserves to be properly understood. A thriving hospitality and leisure sector helps create places where people want to live, work, visit and spend their time. That’s something that benefits all of us.
More than just a business
Having spent almost my entire working life in hospitality, I know how tough this industry can be. I’ve seen the long hours, the difficult trading periods, the pressure of rising costs and the amount of work that goes into keeping a business running successfully.
But I’ve also seen the other side. The pride a team takes in delivering a brilliant experience. The relationships that develop between customers and staff. The joy of watching a room full of people enjoying themselves and sometimes the simple satisfaction of knowing you’ve made somebody’s day a little bit better.
Those are the things that make hospitality such a rewarding industry to be part of.
It’s easy to talk about hospitality purely in terms of turnover, employment figures, taxation and economic growth, and those numbers absolutely matter. They demonstrate the scale and importance of what we do. However, I think the real value of hospitality is much harder to put into a spreadsheet.
It’s in the moments we celebrate, the friendships we make, the comfort we find and the communities we build. It’s where we go when we’re happy, when we’re sad, when we want company and when we just want a little time to ourselves.
Hospitality has been part of our lives for generations, and I hope it continues to be for many more. Because when we’re talking about supporting the hospitality industry, we’re not just talking about supporting businesses. We’re talking about supporting the places where life happens.
