Hospitality ranks bottom for UK wages as sector struggles with costs
Hospitality workers are now the worst-paid employees in the UK as the sector continues to struggle with high costs.
A combination of high energy prices, high wholesale prices and high taxes have squeezed margins in the last two years, making it hard for a sector pummelled by the pandemic to recover.
Accommodation and food service jobs are, on average, paid £12.39 per hour, according to analysis from price comparison site money.co.uk.
This is lower than wholesale and retail trade, at £13.11 per hour, and arts roles, which are paid £13.38 per hour.
The figures come just days after UK Hospitality found that a third of businesses in the sector were operating at a loss, an 11 percentage point increase quarter on quarter.
Six in 10 businesses reported that they’ve had to cut jobs, and 63 per cent have reduced the hours available to staff to try and mitigate recent tax increases and stay afloat.
“Hospitality is vital to the UK economy but is under threat from ongoing costs rises, which the April increases have only exacerbated.
“Jobs are being lost, livelihoods under threat, communities set to lose precious assets, and consumers are experiencing price rises when wallets are already feeling the pinch,” the UK’s three hospitality trade bodies said in a joint statement.
The nightlife sector has been particularly hard-hit, with chief executive of Mitchells & Butlers warning that the late-night segment is “the toughest part of the market right now”, and pointing to a broader structural decline.
Since March 2020, 3,011 pubs, bars, and nightclubs have closed in London alone, according to the Night Time Industries Association (NTIA).
Chief business officer at Deliveroo, Carlo Mocci, has also warned in City PM that London’s restaurants “can’t take” more tax hikes.
“The government needs to give the hospitality industry certainty that there will be no further tax rises that will squeeze the sector, and instead create the right environment for the industry to thrive and grow,” Mocci said.