“The Chancellor’s Autumn Budget Statement includes many initiatives that are good news for hospitality and travel, but hard-pressed events businesses need more support” says Simon Richards, treasurer of HBAA beam.
“The 12 month discount (up to £110,000) on business rates for hotels, pubs and leisure venues, the reduction in Air Passenger Duty on flights within the UK and the investment in transport infrastructure are valuable to the sector while the growth in the economy is encouraging. The news about expanding T Levels and apprenticeships is a potentially important contribution to help develop skills and encourage young people into the industry.
“But there was nothing that would directly help agencies and event service providers who don’t own properties and who are struggling to recover from the extensive impact of the pandemic.
“We called for Plan B4E to support businesses to cope with the impact of potential Plan B Covid restrictions. We also called for the reduced level of VAT paid by the sector to continue beyond April 2022 and are very disappointed that this was not in the Budget. We asked for the extension of the Kick Start scheme in terms of both application dates and end dates to encourage and help employers to retain new staff aged 18 to 24.
“If Plan B is implemented, then PlanB4E, the VAT reduction and extension of Kick Start would have been crucial to maintaining the survival of businesses and keeping many jobs.”
