One in five hospitality firms have no savings amid increasing costs

A FIFTH of UK hospitality businesses have depleted their cash reserves - and nearly eight in 10 have increased prices to cope with the series of cost increases imposed on them in last year's autumn Budget.

- ALI LYON

New data from four trade bodies within the sector revealed that 69% of members have less than six months of reserves remaining, while one in five have no safety net, highlighting the multitude of challenges the beleaguered industry is confronting.

The hospitality industry's dependence on a large workforce of low-skilled workers has made it particularly vulnerable to the government's decision to approve an above-inflation rise in the minimum wage and its £24 billion increase in employer national insurance contributions at its inaugural Budget last October.