Why We’re Backing #VATsTheProblem

We’ve been serving Brighton since 1945.

Three generations, one site in The Lanes, and a lot of oysters. We’ve seen recessions come and go, trends shift, the high street change shape more than once. Hospitality has always found a way through.

But right now, the pressure on pubs, restaurants, cafes and hotels is about as high as we can remember. And a big part of that pressure has nothing to do with the price of fish, or staffing, or energy bills – it’s VAT.

The problem with VAT

In the UK, hospitality businesses pay 20% VAT. That’s one of the highest rates in Europe – second only to Denmark.

Compare that to where we’re competing for visitors. In France, Italy and Spain, it’s 10%. In Germany, it’s just 7%. Most of our European neighbours worked out years ago that hospitality is worth backing with a lower rate. The UK hasn’t caught up.

The result is that a fifth of everything you spend on a meal out, a pint, or a night away goes straight to VAT – on top of everything else squeezing margins in this industry right now. And the toll is real: 100,000 hospitality jobs have gone in the last two years alone, with many more workers seeing their hours cut.

Why we’re signing

That’s why English’s is backing #VATsTheProblem, the campaign fronted by chef and publican Tom Kerridge, calling on the Government to cut VAT for hospitality to 10%.

It’s a simple ask with a big impact. A fairer rate would ease the cost pressure on venues like ours, help keep more doors open, and protect the jobs that go with them. It would also mean we can keep prices more affordable for the people who walk through our doors.

Because when a restaurant, pub or café closes, a community loses more than somewhere to eat. It loses a place where people meet, celebrate, and build the kind of local life that makes a city like Brighton what it is. We’ve watched that happen to businesses around us, and we don’t want to see any more of it.

More than 150,000 people have already signed the petition. We’d love for you to be next.

How you can help

If you’ve ever enjoyed a meal at English’s, backed a local pub, or simply want to see Brighton’s high street thrive, this campaign is for you. It takes thirty seconds:

Sign the petition at vatstheproblem.co.uk →

We’ll keep doing what we’ve always done — serving the best seafood we can, three generations deep. We’re just hoping the Government makes it a little easier to keep the lights on while we do it.

#VATsTheProblem