Empower Independents

NCASS Taking a Stand For You.

We’re empowering independent hospitality and making sure your business gets heard.

We are currently writing to and meeting MPs, local authorities and stakeholders. If you would like to share your challenges with us at this time and would like this to be added to our ongoing evidence pack, please email [email protected] 

18/07/24

The King’s Speech took place this week at the State Opening of Parliament following the formation of the first new Labour Government in 14 years.  

40 new bills were outlined in the speech, as part of Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s plan to “unlock growth and improve living standards for working people.” 

Plans that are expected to directly affect our members include a new Employment Rights Bill – which aims to ban exploitative practices such as zero-hour contracts and ending the pattern of fire and rehire. The government are unlikely to ban the seasonal zero hours contracts our members are most likely to use, however, the bill may impact bricks & mortar and less seasonal businesses.

As well as this, other aspects of the speech that could benefit members include the apprenticeship levy and planning reform.  

The King also announced Starmer’s plans to establish a publicly owned energy production company that will own, manage and operate clean power projects across the UK and develop state assets in energy. This, it says, should help drive down energy bills and contribute to the transition to clean energy. 

NCASS commented:  

“We believe that there is huge opportunity for the new government to drive growth through the independent hospitality sector and welcome a new focus on growth in business. Positives such as inflation reduction, increased growth and business rate reform are unlikely to fall this month but are expected to be addressed soon. We look forward to working with the government to champion our members and create opportunities to enable our sector to thrive again.”

05/07/24

We would like to welcome the new government and look forward to working with them to raise the profile of and to support our sector.

As a non-political organisation, we work with all political parties to stimulate positive change and we hope the change of government brings with it a renewed sense of optimism for the future.

We will continue to advocate for our members, working with the new government to create a better-understood and more supported and sustainable environment for independent hospitality across the UK.

We will be seeking to engage with the government to discuss the changes needed to create much needed stability for our sector and will share our soon to be released manifesto for independent hospitality with government, our members, our stakeholders and our partners.

Spring Budget Statement 06/03/24

We are deeply disappointed that the Chancellor has not listened to the tens of thousands of people across the country who have contributed to the overall campaign to lower VAT for the hospitality industry.  

Despite widespread calls to reduce VAT to alleviate the financial strain on businesses in this sector, the government’s decision to ignore this crucial measure is disheartening to say the least.  

As you know we have been campaigning for:  

• Lower VAT for small and micro independent hospitality businesses 
• A significant change in the VAT threshold  
• A smoothing mechanism to make VAT fairer 

The hospitality industry has been among the hardest hit by the ongoing challenges posed by the pandemic and the proceeding, increased inflation, increased energy costs, increased food costs which has culminated in both the cost of living and the cost of operation crises. 

A reduction in VAT would have provided much-needed relief, enabling businesses to reinvest in their operations, retain staff, and ultimately contribute to the broader economic recovery. 

The omission of this measure from the Spring Budget represents a missed opportunity to support the thousands of businesses and millions of workers who rely on the hospitality sector for their livelihoods. Without targeted assistance, many businesses will continue to struggle, putting jobs at risk and jeopardising the long-term viability of the industry. 

The measures that were announced, namely the alcohol duty freeze extension and the VAT threshold rise to £90k / year does little to help the sector – in fact, we believe that the effect will be negligible. Whilst we welcome an increase in the VAT threshold, a £5k increase is completely insufficient to support the short-term requirements to help kick start the hospitality sector and the economy.  

We believe that the disconnect between micro businesses in the hospitality sector and the government has further widened between the last autumn statement and today’s spring budget. Which leads us to believe that the sector and all that it contributes to the economy and the country has not been heard.  

Independent hospitality businesses make our villages, towns, cities, events and festivals what they are. They shape the essence of our communities and they are the heartbeat of hospitality and morale will be severely dampened by today’s news.  

If the government genuinely understood entrepreneurship and valued the relentless efforts of business owners operating in this exceedingly challenging environment, we believe we would have witnessed a shift today, or at the very least, plans to initiate change in the near future. With an impending election this year it is crucial to persist in advocating for the needs of our industry.  

We urge the government to reconsider its stance and take immediate action to support the hospitality industry. A reduction in VAT would not only provide immediate relief but also stimulate consumer spending, boost economic activity, and accelerate the road to recovery. 

As we navigate these unprecedented challenges, it is imperative that the government listens to the voices of businesses and acts decisively to support those most in need. We stand ready to work collaboratively with policymakers to assure the vitality and resilience of the hospitality sector for years to come. 

We must continue to make sure your voices are heard. Please reach out to your elected MP regarding the essential changes that are needed, we must persist in highlighting these requirements to ensure that the government and elected MPs repeatedly hear and get the message. We will continue to campaign and engage with the government, advising them to reassess their stance on the solutions we have put forward time and time again.   

So far hundreds of you have responded to our survey – a huge thank you to everyone who has taken part already.

Alongside the survey, we have created two template letters for you. One is for you to write to your MP, and the other is for your customers to write to their MP addressing the necessary support and changes our sector needs.

Furthermore, there is a third template letter that you can send to your customers which explains the situation and encourages them to write to their MP.  This could be used in your mailers or even printed out and displayed.

Please use the MP templates and encourage others to do so too, take part in the survey and write to us to tell us what you need right now. Together, we can make a difference.

Thank you for all that you do, you make our villages, towns, cities, events and festivals what they are, you shape the essence of our communities and you are the heartbeat of hospitality.

Posting about your engagement with the campaign may bring other people onboard and encourage more to write to their MPs and ultimately just give us a better chance of making enough noise to be heard.

We have created a series of social assets for you to use so you can show your engagement and help to spread the word about the campaign – save these assets for free here (right click > save images as).

We have put together three template letters for you. One is for you to write to your MP, and the other is for your customers to also write to their MP regarding the support and the changes our sector needs.

There is a third template letter that you can send to your customers to encourage them to write to their MP that you can use in your mailers or even print out and display. 

Sending a letter to your local MP will give this campaign a massive boost – the more MPs we can collectively reach out to and make aware of this campaign, the greater chance we have of progress being made.

To find your local MP:

Go to this Government webpage – Find your MP – MPs and Lords – UK Parliament – and search via your postcode.

Here you will find who you need to contact and the email address to send your letter to.

So once you have the details of your local MP, you just need to copy and paste the template letter below, edit the bracketed sections in bold to add your personal insights and information, and send the email.

Be sure to add [email protected] via cc so we can continue to compile evidence for government that tax reform is needed.