Rising prices have left cafés, pubs and hotels cutting back on
costs, including being forced to restrict staff hours. It comes
as Labour revealed the toll of food inflation on Britain's
businesses and families with food prices in Britain rising
faster than France, Germany and the US.
New analysis from Labour has revealed 300,000 businesses have
been forced to cut hours directly as a result of inflation. 17%
of hospitality firms have reported reducing staff work hours due
to price rises.
The analysis comes as Labour set out plans to get Britain’s high
streets back on track by reducing business rates, cutting energy
bills, dealing with empty shops and stamping out anti-social
behaviour.
,
Labour’s Shadow Business Secretary, said:
“Over the last 13 years, this government have failed to secure
our economy, failed families and failed businesses. Hard working
families will be seeing shift hours reduced while business owners
are forced to make impossible choices because of the Government’s
failure to secure our economy.
“Labour will back high street firms, cutting business rates and
taking action on energy bills to deliver the economic security
our businesses are crying out for.”
Ends
Notes
Labour’s plan for high streets
- Cut business rates: high street businesses
shouldn’t face big tax hikes whilst online giants are let off the
hook. Labour would cut business
rates for small businesses on
the high street, paid for by properly taxing
online giants. Our policy would be worth over £2.6k to the
average pub, café or restaurant.
- Cut energy bills: many beloved high street
businesses face an uncertain future due to spiking energy
bills. Labour will help them cut their
bills for good with vouchers for energy
efficiency measures – such as double glazing at a local
cinema, a new heat pump in a café or an electric
vehicle for a takeaway.
- Stamp out late payments: high street firms
shouldn’t be forced to wait months to be
paid for work by big clients. Labour would
introduce tough new laws to stamp out late payments
and make sure more money gets to high street
firms.
- Revamp empty shops: people won’t
visit high streets blighted by unsightly boarded
up shops. Labour will give councils strong new powers
to bring empty shops on their high streets back
into use.
- Tackle anti-social behaviour: people should feel
safe when they go out to shop, eat or have fun on their
local high street. Labour will
get 13,000 more neighbourhood police and PCSOs back on
our streets and introduce tough new measures
to crack down on anti-social behaviour that blights
local high streets.
According to the latest wave of the ONS’s BICS survey from
earlier this month, 17% of businesses in accommodation and food
service activities reported having to cut staff hours due to
price rises.
5.5% of all businesses reported needing to do this. Using the
ONS’s business population estimates from last year, Labour
estimates this amounts to 302,826 businesses.
Wave 84, BICS business insights survery, Office for National
Statistics, June 2023, https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/economicoutputandproductivity/output/datasets/businessinsightsandimpactontheukeconomy
Business population estimates for the UK and regions 2022, Office
for National Statistics, October 2022 [latest available
data], https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/business-population-estimates-2022/business-population-estimates-for-the-uk-and-regions-2022-statistical-release-html
