Hospitality trade body in call for rates relief

MORE than 2,000 pubs, restaurants and hotels could shut their doors this year unless the Government makes sector-wide changes to "staggering" incoming business rate increases, UK Hospitality has warned.

- 

The trade body has joined the chorus of calls from industry figures for relief set to be announced for pubs to be extended across the sector.

It laid bare the toll that April 1 rises to property taxes will mean for hospitality companies, estimating that 2,076 firms could close in 2026 as a result, with 293 restaurants, 574 hotels and 540 pubs at risk.