Sacha Lord warns of 'only thing' that will save pubs and bars

It has been a difficult three years for the hospitality industry, which has had to survive both the lockdowns of the Covid pandemic and the following years of seemingly never-ending price rises. Figures show that the rate at which much-loved boozers and fine eateries are closing has now slowed, although one in 40 venues have still shut in the past year.

Manchester's Night Time Economy Adviser and founder of city institutions Warehouse Project and Parklife, Sacha Lord, has welcomed the figures that show pub and bar closures have slowed, but is warning that there is only one thing that can rescue the UK's flagging nightlife sector.

Mr Lord, who has just published a tell-all memoir about his 30 years inside the Manchester music scene, said on X: "As figures show a slight decline in Hospitality closures, the only thing that will fully stop closures and in fact create openings, is a VAT REDUCTION."

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This is reflected in recent analysis of the Office for National Statistics inflation figures by Bloomberg, which shows around 80 per cent of the UK's total rate of inflation (3.2 per cent) is being pushed up by prices in pubs, restaurants, hotels and theatres. This is double the hospitality sector's share of inflation from just two years ago.

This is thought to be due to the sector being hardest hit by inflationary prices, with higher food, energy, and labour costs pushing up the cost of a pint or a meal across the industry. Cutting VAT for the hospitality sector would slash many of these back-end costs and give pubs, bars, and nightclubs more chance of recovery after a turbulent few years.

Data published today shows that there has been a drop of more than 2,000 hospitality businesses in the year to March, though the rate at which they are closing has slowed by around half a percentage point.

Speaking to Bloomberg, Adam Quayle, joint artistic director at Mancunian touring theatre company Box of Tricks, said: “Times are tough at the moment.

"We’ve really been hit by the aftermath of the pandemic, by Brexit, by the cost of living crisis. All of these factors have made the industry really difficult to navigate.”

The Manchester night czar has said he will take this issue to politicians to make sure the industry has its voice heard in the General Election, stating: "Today, I'm meeting with operators to begin our campaign to run up to the election. Hospitality needs a VAT reduction to survive."