A hospitality group has written to the Prime Minister demanding cuts in business rates and VAT as thousands of jobs are being lost in the industry.

UKHospitality blames the 2024 Budget for a reversal in the sector’s ability to create jobs.

Between October 2024 and May 2025, it lost 69,000 jobs. In the same period the previous year, hospitality created 18,000 jobs.

The group now wants the government to use this year’s Budget to reverse the affect of the increase employers’ national insurance contributions.

It wants existing exemptions to include both young people and those moving from welfare to work in addition to lower business rates and lower VAT in line with European nations. Business rates are devolved to Scotland and there has been no similar approach to Holyrood.

Speaking about the proposals, Kate Nicholls, chair of UKHospitality, said: “In the years following the financial crisis we created one in five net new jobs and today employ 3.5 million people.

“The Government needs sectors like hospitality to create jobs and meet their ambition to get more people back into work.

“We have a proven track record of being able to deliver those jobs in every part of the country and for people from all backgrounds.

“The NICs change was socially regressive and had a disproportionate effect on entry level jobs. Without a change of tack from the government we could be looking at over 150,000 fewer workers in hospitality, when we should be bringing people into the jobs market.

“The economy needs jobs. Hospitality creates them. But we are being taxed out.”