Leading figures in the eating and drinking out sector have given their views to M&C Report on the likely impact of the election result on the industry.

Russell Margerrison, chief financial officer of Luminar said: “A majority Conservative Government will be good news for the UK economy and the licensed trade sector. We would urge the Government to recognise the positive contribution the late night sector makes to local economies, accounting for 27% of town and city centre turnover, and to focus on policies that encourage growth and prosperity, both for operators and our customers.”

Clive Watson, City Pub Company chief executive, said: “Labour when they were in power became quite puritanical and business has not forgotten that. The Conservatives have done many obvious things that have been of benefit to the pub trade but most importantly they seem to understand this industry. Labour didn’t even appear to try in this election campaign.

“In terms of going forward, we have to be realistic because we know there aren’t huge pots of cash to throw around. I want them to continue with the good work they have done so far.”

Morgan Davies, chief executive of, Barburrito said: “Overall, this is good for the sector. Whether you follow blue, red, yellow or any other colour, stability in government means stability in the economy. We can expect consumer spending to remain strong and sector investment to remain buoyant. I would urge the government to end speculation over zero hour contracts now so that both staff and employers know where they stand on this topic. I would also urge them to continue to drive healthy eating reforms (starting with subsidised burritos in school canteens!). Finally some property / landlord reform to protect startups from aggressive landlords would be a good idea – after all, they are were the sector growth is coming from.”

Mark Lilley, founder of Abokado, said: ”(This means) Certainty, continuity, stability. Economy allowed to continue to perform without interference. No uneconomical increases in minimum wages. Entrepeneur’s relief protected. All in, a good result that will ensure that London and the rest of the country continues to prosper, helping all of us grow our businesses.”

Andrew Lennox, managing director of Koh Thai Tapas said: ”From a personal and business point of view this is a fantastic result for both the country and our company. Stability is the key to the continued recovery of the country and the success of the industry. Most importantly a continued balancing of the books is required and understood by the industry as a whole. However, once this is complete it will hopefully give rise to a return to a lower VAT threshold, which is massively needed for the hospitality trade. It should be noted however that the conservatives must remain fair and balanced, too much austerity may weaken the fragile recovery that we do have; too deep cuts may affect customers dining patterns even further and lead to less sales which in turn will mean less money in the treasury. Finally, keeping the nation together is also a key aim and one that will most probably one of the hardest parts of the next five years.”

Peter Furness-Smith, managing director of McMullen’s said: “The last Government was more helpful towards pubs than the previous one by not only reducing beer duty but also scrapping the vindictive duty escalator as well. We should not forget that the price of a pint of beer in a pub would now be at least 10p to 15p more without these helpful measures.

”On the other hand by having effectively abolished the Tie we will begin to see the unintended consequences as more pubs will be unable to survive without the investment and support from their landlord. This may prove to be helpful towards well invested pubs in good locations! I suspect that a Conservative Government will better understand that following an almost 50% decline in on trade beer volumes over the last 20 years that poorly located pubs which do not attract the investment needed to thrive will close!

“Instead of behaving like King Canute I hope they will now create an environment that encourages the recycling of such assets and encourage companies to invest the proceeds into their other pubs that could have a viable future.

”A long shot I agree but we live in hope that a Conservative Chancellor with proven pro pub credentials will reduce VAT on sales in pubs in order to make pubs more competitive with supermarkets and in the process help build a thriving pub sector which would be so good for creating more career opportunities, particularly for the young”.”

Mark Robson, managing director of managed pub group Red Mist Leisure, said: “I am hugely in favour of Tory policy in relation to small business and the pub trade.

“The key things for me are:

- Reduction in tax on beer for the last two years and scrapping of the beer duty escalator

- Reduction in corporation tax over last 5 years and it continues to reduce

- Massive increase in capital allowances on investment. It was reduced to 25k under labour and the last government increased it to £500k, this was a tory led policy. Very important for a company like ours which is spending circa £1m / year of refurbishing our pubs. It will save is around £150k this year in corporation tax.

- Increase in the personal income tax allowance which is great for our staff. I know this is partly a Lib Dem policy but the Conservatives have adopted it fully.

- General very pro business approach including incentives for apprenticeships and sensible increases in the minimum wage. Labour’s £8 min wage approach would have killed us.

“Moving forward I would like to see more of the above, further reductions in beer duty and more pro small business policies. Of course we all want better immigration and an improved NHS but this does not affect me or RML quite as directly as the things above.

“A conservative government, even one with only a slim majority, has to be good for the pub / hospitality trade, certainly much better than a Labour government would have been.”

Alan D Miller, chairman of the newly formed Night Time Industries Association, said: “As a businessman I’ve been very disappointed by the lack of ambition and sense of what is possible in terms of UK and broader economic outlook. We could do with a bold dose of “can do” and major infrastructure projects that private enterprise often can’t do. An open discussion about wealth creation and how we need more would be very welcome.”

Ufi Ibrahim, chief executive of the British Hospitality Association said: “The threat of having no clear winner in the general election was just as bad as the wrong result for business and consumers. Now the coalition veil has been lifted there is no room for excuses. The hospitality and tourism industry expect the new Conservative Government to start delivering from day one.

“Our top agenda item for the Prime Minister and the Chancellor is to cut tourism VAT to 5% which could massively boost jobs, bring billions of new revenue to the Treasury and directly improve the livelihoods of people in struggling communities across the UK. Let’s hope consumers are the winners in the final result and can look forward to the benefits of an increasingly healthy economy.”

Analyst Will Brumby, of Langton Capital, said: “We shouldn’t see a return to the duty escalator, we may even get another cut (or two). Zero-hour contracts (or at least flexible-hour contracts) could/should be reprieved. The MRO proposals are likely to proceed as planned, not be hijacked. Franchises should be excluded, ‘significant’ investment units should also be excluded at the tenants’ choice. Drink driving law changes in England & Wales (which had a bigger impact in Scotland than might have been expected) are less likely than may have been the case under a Scot/Lab coalition. Overall and personal politics aside, this is a good result for the industry.”

 

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