Four prominent UK chefs and restaurant owners have urged the government to cut VAT for restaurants and pubs, warning conditions in the hospitality sector are the “hardest it has ever been.”
Tom Kerridge, Yotam Ottolenghi, Ravneet Gill and Simon Rogan told BBC Newsnight that VAT should be reduced from 20% to 10%, bringing the UK closer to rates seen across Europe.
Rogan warned “we’re not making any money whatsoever, and we’re just keeping our heads above water,” while Kerridge said the government was getting taxation on businesses “very, very wrong.”
Cabinet minister Pat McFadden acknowledged the government had “asked Business to contribute more,” adding that “we help them where we can” while noting tax cut lobbying came with a financial cost.
“The chancellor has to make these decisions in the round, netting off all of these demands against the increasing expenditure demands that government also faces,” McFadden said.
Ottolenghi, who operates 11 restaurants, cafes and delis, described the situation as “crippling” for businesses including his own, as well as bakeries, cafes and pubs across the country.
“Every pound that we take, a substantial amount of it just goes to the government for a different taxation,” he said.
According to industry body UK Hospitality, three hospitality businesses have collapsed every day since the start of 2026, following years of disruption caused by the pandemic, soaring energy prices and reduced consumer spending.
The UK’s standard 20% VAT rate for hospitality businesses is the second highest in Europe behind Denmark, with countries including Germany, Ireland, France, Italy and Spain all charging significantly lower rates.
Kerridge, who runs five restaurants and pubs, said “so many different factors” were driving up costs, including higher employer National Insurance contributions, business rates and minimum wage increases.
Pastry chef and author Ravneet Gill, who opened her first restaurant a year ago, said she “never imagined it would be this tough,” particularly regarding the cost of employing staff.
Rogan, whose restaurant group across the UK, Malta and Hong Kong holds nine Michelin stars, agreed taking on staff was expensive, describing VAT specifically as “a killer.”
The chefs indicated they supported the minimum wage rise, but argued a VAT cut to 10% would “allow operators to breathe” and provide room to reinvest, framing it as a matter of “survival” for the sector.
“Don’t look at us as having profit is a dirty thing,” Gill added, saying operators reinvest earnings to employ more people and regenerate their local areas.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves last week announced a VAT reduction from 20% to 5% on various attractions over the summer holidays, including children’s meals in restaurants and cafes.
Gill dismissed the move as “a very poor attempt at trying to offer something to hospitality and quite frankly it will lead to loopholes, fraud, misuse and no genuine good.”
The hospitality sector employs 28% of all 18 to 20-year-olds according to the Institute of Fiscal Studies, but a report published on Thursday by former Labour minister Alan Milburn warned job opportunities for young people were shrinking rapidly.
Official figures revealed more than one million young people were not in education, employment or training, the highest level in more than 12 years, with Milburn warning the UK was “at risk of a lost generation.”
Treasury minister Torsten Bell acknowledged that higher taxes were having an impact, though he stated employment rates for 18 to 25-year-olds were “exactly the same as when we took office in 2024.”
Allen Simpson, chief executive of UK Hospitality, called on the government to “make it economically beneficial to employ young people once again,” arguing that reducing employment costs was the key solution.