“I want never gets.” I heard that many times as a little’un in the 1970s. It’s an idiom typically directed at a child demanding, say, an Evel Knievel Stunt Cycle. But it’s also something taxpaying adults should perhaps bear in mind. I’m looking at you, Tom Kerridge.

That’s because the celebrity restaurateur and M&S spokes-chef is to spearhead #VATsTheProblem, a new campaign by the UK hospitality industry. Set to kick off on 1 July, it will call on the government to halve the VAT rate on food and drink served in eateries, boozers and the like to 10%. It’s supported by major trade groups including UKHospitality, the British Beer & Pub Association and the British Institute of Innkeeping.

“Our sector is under huge pressure. We know it. We live and breathe it every day,” Kerridge wrote in an open letter this week. “We know that the key to unleashing hospitality’s potential to grow and thrive into the future comes through a VAT cut. We’re making sure government knows that too.”

The challenges facing hospitality

There’s no doubt bars and restaurants are struggling. According to data published by the British Beer & Pub Association, for instance, there were about 45,000 pubs in the UK in 2024 – an alarming 23.1% decline on the 55,400 in 2010. So, were the government to acquiesce to #VATsTheProblem’s demands, it would be a very welcome boon for hospitality. And for cash-conscious consumers, too, if those savings were passed on.

But a major tax cut for a £100bn industry would leave a gaping hole in the public purse – a hole the government would surely be loath to endure or compel another major area of business to fill without an extremely compelling reason. “In 2022, hospitality generated £56bn in tax receipts,” UKHospitality states. That’s a lot of wonga to slash.

It’s why making a song and dance about having to pay VAT is no guarantee of success. Take the hairdressing industry. It’s demanded a sales tax cut every year for at least the past two decades, with no success. Then there was 2024’s call by Who Gives a Crap for VAT on loo roll to be zero-rated – which fell on deaf ears. I want never gets, indeed.

Plant-based supplements challenger Dr Vegan is clearly in agreement. This week, it pledged to permanently absorb the 20% VAT on its PMS Hero capsules and dropped the product’s rsp from £23.99 to £18.99. The move marked a “commitment to making premenstrual support more accessible”, said the brand, as part of its wider efforts to raise awareness about the care women need throughout their menstrual cycle.

It’s an admirably proactive decision – and one that explicitly references the abolition of the so-called tampon tax. “Period products became VAT-free in 2021. The supplements that help women manage what those products can’t are still taxed as a luxury,” noted Dr Vegan CMO Jenny Chiu.

That VAT overhaul in 2021 followed years of campaigning. A key factor for its success was Tesco cutting the price of tampons and sanitary towels by 5% in 2017. Then in 2023, the retailer became the first to cover the VAT on period pants before others, including M&S, followed its lead. The government abolished the tax the following year. 

Proof, if it were needed, that forcing an issue can be more effective than simply shouting about it.

In other words – to use another classic piece of ’70s-style advice – if you want something done, do it yourself.

Topics