As the famous political quote goes, you can’t fatten the pig on market day. You’ve got to start making the case well in advance. 

 

That’s what we’ve been doing with our members for the past 18 months – and now a general election has been called, just as political candidates are hitting the pavement, making their argument and getting in front of as many people as possible – so must UKHospitality. 

 

Our work with the Conservative government has been extensive, providing the sector with the one voice it needs to represent it at the highest possible levels. We’ve been making clear those challenging economic and regulatory circumstances businesses continue to face, as well as leading on innovative schemes like our skills-based work academy to get people into employment.

 

With Labour, we have held countless conversations, meetings and roundtables to make sure hospitality was central in its policy development. That’ll pay dividends if, as the polls suggest, Labour wins a majority to govern. 

 

We have been the influential voice in the room that has led to policy commitments from the Labour Party to replace the broken business rates system and reform the unfair apprenticeship levy. Both critical priorities of ours and a real success. 

 

But now, in the election period, our job changes to building relationships with the candidates. This election will see more new MPs than any on record. That means we have to show the value of our sector to more than 2,000 candidates.

 

On our members’ behalf, we’re travelling up and down the country, speaking to would-be MPs about the importance of hospitality. After all, we are one of the few sectors that can claim to be in every constituency in the UK. 

 

The make-up of hospitality in each constituency naturally differs. An urban area like Manchester Central is host to the Northern Quarter, one of the most dynamic hospitality areas in the UK. 

 

A rural seat like Westmorland and Cumberland is home to Lake District staples like Kendal and Lake Windemere, where country pubs and independent B&Bs are the foundation of tourism.

 

Hospitality looks different everywhere, but it’s the golden thread underpinning jobs, local economies and communities.

 

We’ve written to every single prospective parliamentary candidate to equip them with our key asks and the invitation to meet. Many have already taken up that invitation. To give you a snapshot, just in the next two weeks, we’ll be in Eastbourne, Tamworth, Bristol and Witham meeting candidates.

 

We’ll be sharing with them our “Serving Britain” agenda for government, which tells candidates why they should support the sector, outlines what it’s delivering now and what it could deliver in the future. 

 

In the first 100 days of a new government, we want to see business rates fixed with a permanently reduced multiplier for hospitality and tourism, at a rate of 30p in the pound. This should be funded by rebalancing the burden to reflect the rise of the online economy. 

 

We also want to see the apprenticeship levy reformed to free up funds for non-apprenticeship skills training and introduce a modular approach for learning.

 

In the first 100 weeks, we want to see businesses supported with their staffing costs through reduced employer national insurance contributions, and we want green investment in the sector to be better supported through, for example, investment credits. 

 

In the next parliamentary term, we want to see planning rules reformed so that hospitality can make an even bigger contribution to regeneration. Finally, a long-standing ask is that VAT is reformed to bring it in line with European rivals. For too long, we have been hugely uncompetitive, and reducing the rate of VAT to 12.5% will keep prices lower and make Britain competitive, stimulate spending, create new jobs and allow businesses to reinvest. 

 

We’re making this case loud and clear to candidates, but we want to give you a platform as businesses to make your voice heard. 

 

This week, we launched our new election toolkit. The headline feature is the ability for any operator – not just UKHospitality members – to invite their prospective parliamentary candidates to visit their venue. The tool is smart – it will automatically give you the key facts about hospitality in your area.

 

This is so important. Why? Making the argument face-to-face is so much more effective, and we know there are thousands of the most passionate people out there in our sector to make that case.

 

I urge you to get stuck into the campaign and help make hospitality’s voice even louder. Let’s leave politicians in absolutely no doubt about the importance of our sector and the need to champion our cause. 

 

So, please, whether you are our member or not, write those letters using our tool and help us create the best possible relationships with would-be MPs.

 

Because, in July, when 650 people take their campaigning from the pavements of their constituency to the green benches of the Houses of Parliament, many for the first time as MPs, we want them to be making the argument for hospitality. Now is the time to make that happen.

On entering the maiden Permit Room in Brighton, the Dishoom offshoot, it was clear that it had received the same exemplary fit-out afforded the parent brand’s outlets that have been an unqualified success in what continues to be a difficult restaurant sector.

 

The various sections had been carefully curated with differentiated furnishings and no expense spared, according to my eye. The thorough back-story that the founders carefully build into each outlet, which pegs it back to their family experiences and heritage in India, was also firmly in place. This time, they say they have drawn inspiration from the “beer bars and drinking holes” that flourished in post prohibition-era Bombay.

 

This has resulted in an all-day bar-café that has drinks at its heart, but these are complimented by “drinking food” with a service that runs through from breakfast until supper. There is no doubt that judging by my early evening midweek visit, many customers to Permit Rooms will be partaking in the food offer, even if it is an accompaniment to the house IPA (from Mondo Brewery, for those interested) or a “Thums Up” cocktail. 

 

The early success of the venue has led to plans for further Permit Rooms in Oxford and Cambridge later this year, and the company has confirmed that its focus in 2024 will be on this new concept rather than on opening any more Dishooms.

 

This move by these proven restaurateurs to try their hand at running a more drink-led proposition is being replicated by a variety of operators across the hospitality industry. Bill’s is currently trialling a café-bar concept in what were two formerly regular Bill’s sites. The idea is that these more relaxed venues with less focus on food will prove a sufficiently attractive, affordable proposition that further conversions will follow in due course. Meanwhile, Six by Nico has developed a cocktail-led concept, Somewhere by Nico, which it has been testing out within its Edinburgh restaurant, and it has a second site in the offing where it will serve a fixed-price changing menu in the same vein as at its core business.  

 

Other such moves involve Tonino’s Pizzeria in Greenock, outside Glasgow, where the owner, Tony Bonatti, is opening a wine bar nearby serving Italian wine and a modest selection of cold food, including antipasti and nibbles produced in his pizzeria. In London, Michelin-starred Trivet has come up with the interesting idea of launching Lacombe Wine Bar in the Trivet space that only opens on Mondays, when the restaurant is closed. The wine list remains the same, but the food will be simpler plates rather than the full menu.

 

Even the cost-focused McDonald’s is investigating more drink-led models, having made the dramatic move of developing a small format café-style offshoot, CosMc’s, with a planned ten such outlets due to be operating on a trial basis across the US this year. The proposition is non-alcoholic beverage-led with a select range of McDonald’s food products available, and currently involves four sites. Early reports revealed footfall double that of a regular McDonald’s, and the recent launch of a CosMc’s loyalty programme suggests there is management confidence in the model. 

 

These drink-led venues, with their more accessible pricing and embrace of people just popping in for a quick drink, are maybe the next iteration for restaurant operators, which represents a trend that is very much going in the complete opposite direction to that of a pub sector that continues on its route towards pitching ever greater food offerings alongside the drinks proposition. Such is the improved integration of food within London pubs nowadays that the personally disliked “gastropub” moniker seems pretty much redundant to me. 

 

Maybe the example restaurateurs can learn most from, as they look towards delivering looser food-drink models, is Loungers. It has not really invented anything particularly ground-breaking but has undoubtedly nailed that all-day café-bar that seems to sit in that promised land of being (almost) everything to (almost) all people at (almost) all dayparts. I might not necessarily be one of them, but there are enough customers for 260 sites and counting across the UK.

Being blind, I know all too well the challenges and emotions that many people with disabilities encounter when eating out. That’s why in 2013, I founded the Good Food Talks app, a platform that makes it easier for blind, visually impaired and dyslexic diners to independently browse restaurant menus on their chosen device and confidently make their food choices without help from others.   

 

Eleven years on, I’m still committed to improving the dining experience for people who are visually impaired, not only in the UK but around the world, and through our recent acquisition by Nutritics, we hope to help more operators make a positive impact on this community. 

 

Some operators are starting to make their venues more accessible for the visually impaired by deploying helpful, tech-driven solutions. However, too few hospitality businesses have grasped this opportunity to date. There is a real value in investing in inclusivity, and until the rest of the sector catches up, those who do cater to diners with accessibility needs are seizing a competitive advantage.

 

The size of the audience and the scale of the opportunity is significant. A total of 340,000 people in the UK have no sight, two million have sight loss and 10% of the population are affected by dyslexia. Alongside this, research from We Are Purple, an organisation created to bring disabled people and businesses together, suggests that hospitality could be losing up to £163m a month by not addressing accessibility. 

 

So, how can hospitality unlock the spending power of visually impaired households, and what are the benefits of creating an environment where all guests feel valued and respected? Here are a few thoughts. 

 

Though most do not, some major operators offer braille menus. However, the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) states that only 7% of visually impaired people read braille. In addition, braille menus are costly and labour-intensive to update each time a menu changes. So, while braille menus are well-intentioned, it’s unlikely that those operators are reaping the commercial benefits.

 

Incorporating technology that enhances the guest experience for visually impaired diners can be a cost-effective solution to add to the bottom line and improve operational efficiency. Accessible digital menu services are an instant solution to creating a more inclusive dining experience and opting for a platform that seamlessly integrates with your current tech stack can help save time and money. Having a digital menu solution also enables visually impaired and dyslexic diners to browse and choose menu items without needing to rely on friends, family and staff to help them navigate lists of dishes.

 

Consumer expectations in the out-of-home sector are rightly high, and operators are not only scrutinised on the quality of the eating out experience, but also for their wider societal commitments. Research from the Accessibility in Hospitality report suggests 53% of guests would not return to a venue if accessibility was difficult.

 

Operators who demonstrate and clearly communicate their commitment to inclusivity and accessibility to customers will boost brand reputation and drive loyalty, those magic ingredients to provide competitive advantage and differentiation. The commercial return resulting from increased footfall and repeat visits from a loyal clientele are obvious.

 

It’s clear that when it comes to driving footfall and attracting guests, a focus on sustainability is becoming a key factor. Food businesses need to make reducing their impact on the environment a priority; they also need to prove to customers that their efforts are genuine and actually making an impact if they want them to keep returning long-term.

 

By offering an accessible digital menu platform, business can eliminate the need for paper, directly contributing to a reduction in waste. Once implemented, digital menu solutions require minimal energy for maintenance and updates, helping reduce carbon emissions and minimise environmental impact.

 

Although it might be tempting to put inclusivity on the back burner, there are huge time, reputational and cost-saving benefits for operators who use technology to be more inclusive and provide visually impaired customers with the opportunity to enjoy the same experience.

 

I passionately believe investing in accessible menu solutions is a small, cost-effective change for operators, which can make a big difference. After all, as a people-focused industry built around facilitating social occasions, we all have a responsibility to make it accessible for everyone. 

On Sunday, we went to a carvery – as lots of people do. The pub, part of a national brand, was second choice, the first being fully booked. The driving consideration, if you’ll forgive the pun, was the presence of a car park, followed by its location and the space to seat a large family party.

 

Food came further down the list, but I’ve a soft spot for a carvery and I knew this was a good one, certainly for the quality of the meat. We’d gone there quite often when mum and dad were alive. 

 

Carveries are one of the great survivors of the British pub scene. Of course, I had to check the history, and it turns out they’re the same age as me. The first appeared in Lyons Corner Houses. 

 

Lyons was a terrific innovator in catering and hospitality. Its first teashop opened in London in 1894, and by 1909, there were 200 Lyons on high streets all over the country. I remember as a child being taken to “Lyons” – not just “the café”. It was a genuine brand, perceived as an affordable notch above other options. It was a “nice” place to go – ever so slightly posh.

 

The company, which started out making cakes, was at the cutting edge of retail standards, pioneering computer technology in the 1950s to improve the efficiency of the operation, for instance. 

 

It was exactly 100 years ago, however, when the directors set out to sharpen their image, with the focus on staff. According to the Flashbak website, they held a staff competition to choose a nickname for the newly styled Lyon’s teashops’ waitresses. The former name of “Gladys” was now seen as very old fashioned. The name “Nippy” was eventually chosen, probably for the connotation that the waitresses nipped speedily around.”

 

Interestingly, the rule against bobbed hair, the rather risqué fashion of the day, was dropped, but they had to have nice hands and carry themselves properly. Personality was valued more highly than looks, though, and being a “Nippy” was regarded as a good job. 

 

But perhaps not a career. As Flashbak notes, Lyons promoted the role as “excellent training for a housewife”, and to prove it, by 1939, between 800 and 900 “Nippies” (out of a total of 7,600) were married off each year.

 

After the Second World War, Lyons adopted cafeteria-style self-service. This was obviously where the carvery came in, at the more spacious art nouveau Corner Houses. The company was taken over by Allied Breweries in 1978. By then, significantly, pub-restaurant brands were already rolling out their own versions of the carvery.

 

In the original format, Lyons diners carved their own meat – though a member of staff was always on hand to help (and no doubt reduce injuries). Last Sunday, it was good to see the chef himself in whites and a high toque wielding his sabre and slicing generous portions from a choice of five different roast joints steaming on the deck.

 

That’s theatre. And there’s value, too, in someone from the kitchen meeting and interacting with the customers. It’s something the best food-led pubs appreciate the importance of, and a carvery is a neat way of breaking through the division between back and front-of-house.

 

The staff member attending us, our own “Nippy” if you like, made sure we knew the drill and serving drinks and desserts to the table. She was an essential part of an overall positive experience and kept smiling through our challenging demands and questions like: “Does the rice pudding come out of a tin?”

 

It’s bad form to try to trip up a server, I know, but we weren’t doing it deliberately. We said nothing when she assured us that the London Pride was cask, and when it appeared, was plainly keg. I did feed that back online later, but I don’t really think it was the server’s fault.

 

If I’d have gone to the bar when I arrived, as I usually do, I would have known. On this occasion, my party was efficiently ushered from the door to the table, as would happen in a restaurant. And of course, I was in a restaurant, not a pub.

 

That evolution has happened slowly. One symptom is the demotion of beer and the total disappearance of cask ale. It’s hard to train someone on a product you don’t sell, even when old fogeys like me might, out of habit, ask for it.

 

Also, I have found that Toby Carveries no longer have their pub names. Perhaps they’re not thought of as pubs any more. But it seems a mistake, throwing away a bit of history that locals might feel affection for in what is often a landmark building, a vestige of a unique character. If all that’s left is a carvery, however good, that’s sad.