It is not news that the Hospitality sector has struggled to stabilise following the impact of the Coronavirus pandemic. Many factors have contributed to this turbulent climate with enforced local lockdowns, the great resignation, and the ongoing economic crisis.
There have been some attempts to build the industry back up with Government grants and temporary relief on business rates, but they have not succeeded in stamping out the issues.
RecentlyBack in April, UKHospitality has set out their local election manifesto 2022, which outlines “ideas for how local authorities can leverage hospitality’s contributions and abilities to nurture regeneration, growth and vibrancy.”, with the hope that candidates in the May Local Elections would take up these policies in their campaigns.
Key policies proposed
The manifesto outlines twelve key policies covering people, promotion of place and partnership. The policies are:
People
1. Actively promote hospitality jobs and skills through local authority channels, including careers advice and information campaigns
2. Direct employers and jobseekers to Springboard for schools, colleges, and employer networks – and promote the school’s ambassador network
3. Tighter regulations on Short Term Lets to ensure local people can access housing and work in the area
Promotion of Place
4. Take a permissive approach to planning application to support business growth with a rapid, streamlined response
5. Include a commitment to support hospitality businesses within local licensing and planning policies, such as a permanent extension of pavement and takeaway licensing
6. Deliver a more efficient, low-cost public transport system that supports business and resident needs
7. Provide discretionary business rates relief to businesses struggling post-pandemic
8. Simplification of any future biodiversity net gain regulations
9. Establish high street business fora at local level to input into local development plans
Partnership
10. Support the roll out of EV charging points at hospitality businesses
11. Provide support for businesses on the food waste collection system by streamlining and simplifying the process
12. Work collaboratively with business and key stakeholders to avoid imposing excessive regulations such as Late Night Levies and EMROs
Stabilising your business
Whether the outlined policies are put into place, or changed, there are still steps you can take as a business to enhance stability during these testing times.
With some of the biggest challenges the sector has had to face, being the economic and staffing crisis, it has become essential to ensure that you have an efficiently managed tronc scheme. Not only will running your scheme effectively save you employers NI costs, but it will also boost your employee’s take-home pay.
As we discussed in our recent post, “Topping up salaries and benefits with a tronc scheme”, more and more employers within the sector are turning to creative ways to offer a better package to attract prospective employees. In the current climate, it is crucial that you can compete for candidates.
Want to learn more about implementing a tronc scheme? Contact our Troncmaster experts to learn more.