22/03/2022
An inquiry by a group of influential MPs has recommended that VAT for the hospitality and tourism sectors stays at 12.5% beyond March. The All Party Parliamentary Group for Hospitality and Tourism, concluded that VAT should not return to 20% this April, citing UKHospitality data revealing that the lower rate would bring benefits including jobs, international competiveness and social wellbeing, reports Big Hospitality.
Metropolitan Pub Company has acquired the Bull in Highgate, north London, which will open as a gastropub come spring, advises Morning Advertiser. The site will undergo initial works to introduce the Metropolitan Pub Company's operating format and food and beverage offering, with an investment upgrade to follow later in the year.
London restaurants are being urged to sign up to a new recruitment website designed to provide jobs for Ukrainian refugees as they arrive in the UK, reports The Caterer. Hospitality For All will take the form of an 'applicant-first' recruitment website, where brands can post available jobs for refugees. Hospitality businesses that have already signed up include Wahaca, Franco Manca, the Cinnamon Collection and Pizza Pilgrims.
New analysis has found that the UK's retail and leisure sector is stabilising following the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. According to a report released by Local Data Company, the UK saw the first half-year decline in vacancy rate since 2018 in the second half of 2021, although the leisure sector led the way with a record drop of 0.3% in the period. The leisure vacancy rate dropped from 11.3% to 11.0% over 6 months -- the largest decrease since records began in H1 2013, advises The Retail Bulletin.
Global amusement park operator Babylon Park will launch its debut UK attraction at Camden Market Hawley Wharf in north London this spring, Property Week has revealed. Babylon Park has 19 sites in three countries and has plans for further worldwide expansion in the coming years. The Camden site will be its largest to date and has been designed and created by P&P Projects, which is behind attractions around the world including Madame Tussauds and Nickelodeon Adventure.
Soho House will make the move south of the river in the capital this summer with the opening of a club in Balham, south London, as well as going north for the first time with a Manchester venue reports Big Hospitality.