Just Filters

23/06/2026

⚽ The Government has already announced plans to extend pub opening hours if England (or another home nation) makes it to the latter stages of the World Cup.

Optimistic? Maybe.
Good news for hospitality? Definitely.

Because major tournaments don't just bring football fans together. They bring extra footfall, packed venues, longer trading hours and a welcome boost for pubs, bars and restaurants.

The real question is...

How far do you think England will get? 👀

🏆 Winners?
🥈 Final?
⚽ Semi-final?
😬 Out in the groups?



https://www.gov.uk/government/news/cheers-football-fans-to-raise-a-glass-for-the-world-cup

17/06/2026

⚽ Quick poll before the kick off tonight...

What's harder to manage on an England match day?
🍺 The bar
🍔 The kitchen
😅 The customers after a last-minute winner

Major tournaments are brilliant for pubs, bars and restaurants.

But they also create a very specific kind of pressure.
Everyone arrives at once.
Everyone wants serving at half-time.
And everyone suddenly decides they need food five minutes before kick-off.

While the rest of us are focused on the football, hospitality teams are busy pulling off a logistical masterclass behind the scenes.

Who's working through today's match? 👇

15/06/2026

📢 100,000 signatures in just a few days.

That's how many people have already backed calls to reduce hospitality VAT from 20% to 10%.

Whatever your view on tax policy, one thing is clear.

The industry is under pressure.
Rising labour costs.
Higher energy bills.
Increasing operating costs.
Tighter margins.

When businesses are working harder to protect profitability, efficiency becomes more important than ever.

And that's often where the less visible parts of an operation start to matter.

The systems nobody notices when they're working properly are usually the first things that get attention when costs are under the microscope.

What's the biggest challenge facing hospitality operators right now?

Tom Kerridge's campaign receives huge support from across the sector in first three days to cut hospitality VAT.

11/06/2026

☀️ Could this be the summer hospitality has been waiting for?

New research suggests UK staycations could deliver a £9.1 billion boost to the hospitality sector this summer, with millions of Brits choosing to holiday closer to home. Meanwhile, more than 15 million people are expected to watch at least one World Cup match in a pub or bar.

For hospitality businesses, that's obviously welcome news.

But busy periods bring their own challenges.

More covers.
More pressure on teams.
Longer opening hours.
Hotter kitchens.
Equipment working harder than usual.

When demand increases, it's often the behind-the-scenes systems that get tested first.

Because while customers see a busy restaurant, operators see extraction systems, ventilation, maintenance schedules and energy bills all working overtime.

Here's hoping it's a strong summer for the sector 🍻


https://insurance-edge.net/2026/06/09/will-a-staycation-summer-save-uk-hospitality/

03/06/2026

🍽️ What if cutting VAT from 20% to 10% could help save hospitality businesses?

That's exactly what some of the UK's best-known chefs are calling for this week, as they warn the industry is facing some of the toughest conditions they've ever experienced.

And honestly, the backdrop is pretty sobering.

Industry figures suggest three hospitality businesses are closing every day in 2026.

Not because restaurants and pubs have suddenly become unpopular.

But because operators are trying to balance rising wages, higher employment costs, business rates, energy bills and changing consumer spending habits... all at the same time.

Whether VAT is the answer or not, one thing feels hard to argue with... hospitality is operating with very little room for error, and when margins become that tight, even small costs and inefficiencies start to matter a lot more than they used to.

Would reducing VAT to 10% make a meaningful difference to hospitality businesses?

Tom Kerridge, Yotam Ottolenghi, Ravneet Gill and Simon Rogan told BBC Newsnight VAT should be halved to ease mounting pressure on the hospitality industry.

01/06/2026

🍽️ “Lunch embarrassment is the price of progress.”

That’s one of the more striking lines from a recent piece on women in bars and restaurants.

And it says a lot about where hospitality is right now.

The industry has changed, more inclusive, more open, more representative than it used to be.

But progress doesn’t always feel smooth.

Sometimes it still comes with awkward moments, old habits, and subtle barriers that take time to disappear.

What matters is that it’s moving in the right direction.

Because better environments don’t just feel better to work in, they perform better too.

If you’ve worked in hospitality, what’s one moment that stuck with you from your early days?

https://www.thecaterer.com/news/the-caterers-inspiring-women-in-bars-restaurants-lunch-embarrassment-is-the-price-of-progress

Women from across the restaurant sector came together for networking and nourishment at The Caterer’s Inspiring Women’s Lunch

29/05/2026

☀️ Hands up if you’ve had to work through this May heatwave? 👋 🌡️

So at what point does a kitchen stop being “busy”… and start becoming uncomfortable to work in?

There’s growing discussion around introducing an upper temperature limit for workplaces in the UK, particularly in sectors like hospitality, where heat isn’t occasional… it’s part of the job.

But here’s the reality:

UK law currently sets no maximum workplace temperature.

Instead, employers are expected to maintain a “reasonable” working environment under health and safety law, even during heatwaves.

And that’s where things get complicated.

Because in a busy kitchen, “reasonable” isn’t always easy to define.

Ovens are running.
Extraction systems are under pressure.
Teams are moving fast in tight spaces for long periods.

And when external temperatures rise on top of that, conditions shift quickly.

Not just in comfort, but in focus, fatigue, and consistency during service.

Which is why this debate isn’t really just about temperature. It’s about performance under pressure in environments that don’t slow down when conditions get harder.

What degree do you think the limit should be?

https://www.thecaterer.com/news/government-urged-to-introduce-upper-temperature-limit-for-workplaces

The measures would be designed to protect employee safety in the face of climate change

28/05/2026

🍺 With around 45,000 of them… Britain has always been known for its pubs.

But that picture has been changing for a long time. Since the early 2000s, the UK has lost roughly one third of its pubs.

And now, the pace hasn’t slowed. New figures show almost two pubs a day are closing in 2026.

📊 161 closures in just three months
📊 Around 2,400 jobs lost

On paper, this gets described as “economic pressure” or “market change”.

But pubs have never really been just part of the economy.

They’re part of how places function, familiar spaces that sit at the centre of communities, routines, and local identity.

And that’s why the decline feels different from a normal industry shift.

Because when a pub closes, it doesn’t just leave a market.

It leaves a gap in a place people actually recognise.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c9d355nw7jzo

The British Beer and Pub Association says 161 pubs have closed in the first three months of this year.

27/05/2026

Hospitality is feeling the pressure, and the latest numbers show it’s not easing up.

New ONS figures paint a pretty clear picture:
📊 UK unemployment has risen to 5%
📊 Youth unemployment has hit 14.7%, the highest since 2014
📊 Payrolled employees fell by 100,000 in April alone

And hospitality is right in the middle of it.

The ONS says the sector has seen some of the largest falls in payroll numbers, both recently and over the past year.

Now, headlines like this usually focus on “jobs lost” or “employment trends”.
But on the ground, it looks a bit different.

It looks like tighter teams.
More pressure on shifts.
Less flexibility in already stretched kitchens and venues.

And when that happens, efficiency stops being a nice-to-have… and becomes the difference between coping and not coping.

Where are you seeing the pressure most right now?
Staffing? Costs? Or operations?

https://www.ukhospitality.org.uk/unemployment-rises-in-march-our-response/

Rising unemployment and fewer job opportunities is the result of endless cost increases for hospitality businesses.

22/05/2026

☀️ Looks like the Bank Holiday weekend is coming in hot... literally.

If you’ve stepped outside this week, you’ve probably already noticed it feels like summer has just skipped spring.

The BBC have a good breakdown of what’s coming here 👇

🔗 https://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/articles/c3328epvm2do

For hospitality, this is the kind of weather that looks great on paper… but can quietly turn into a stressful few days behind the scenes.

Hot weather means busier venues, hotter kitchens, and systems working harder than usual. And when everything ramps up at once, the small things (like airflow, extraction, and maintenance) suddenly matter a lot more than they did last week.

It’s rarely one big issue that causes problems, it’s the little ones stacking up when pressure increases. So while everyone else is enjoying the sunshine, it’s worth making sure the bits you don’t always think about are actually doing their job properly.

Because when it’s 30°C outside and service is in full swing… the last thing you need is avoidable strain in the background.

Stay cool out there ☀️

The warmest weather of the year is forecast over the bank holiday weekend as some places may reach the earliest 30 Celsius in the UK since 1952.