Marking the third HospoDemo protest in two years, demonstrators from all corners of the sector including restaurants, bars, pubs, clubs, hotels and cafés are encouraged to come together and stand up for their industry on Monday 14 November.
Coming at a time when operators are struggling with spiralling costs, ongoing labour shortages and the cost of living crisis, the latest demonstration will demand a VAT reduction to 10% on food and drink sales, including alcohol sales; call for the business rates holiday to be reinstated; and the introduction of a visa scheme to allow overseas workers to work in the sector again.
Campaigners should come dressed in their work uniform and equipped with pots, pans, ladles, cocktail shakers, wooden spoons, last orders bells and other hospitality-related tools with which to make themselves heard.
At 11am, all protestors will turn to face the Houses of Parliament and make as much noise as possible to ensure the sound resonates within the building, before marching on to HM Treasury to do the same.
The organisers says they expected a 'large turnout' due to the 'perilous position' many hospitality businesses are in, fuelled by Covid lockdowns, subsequent rent debt, labour shortages, the cost-of-living crisis and the spiralling cost of supplies.
Chefs Yotam Ottolenghi, Jason Atherton, Tom Aikens, Fergus Henderson and Margot Henderson, along with well-known drinks industry figures including Monica Berg, Alex Kratena, Alessandro Palazzi and Jan Konetzki, were among the prominent attendees that have participated in previous HospoDemo protests, which took place in 2020.
“The situation that hospitality businesses are facing now is nothing short of a nightmare,” says chef Tom Kerridge.
“I fully support HospoDemo in their efforts to make the Government accountable by urging them to make policy changes. The question is, how many more hospitality businesses need to fail before the Government takes action and gives our sector proper support?”
Sacha Lord, the night time economy adviser for Greater Manchester, adds that it is clear that not only do the Government not care about hospitality, they are quite happy to sit back and watch it collapse.
“If they will not listen to us, we have no alternative but to make them listen. This is businesses, jobs and lives we are fighting for,” he says.
HospoDemo was founded by Rachel Harty, a long-standing industry marketer.
