A UK restaurant boss has slammed a proposed ‘tourist tax’ after 3,800 jobs were lost and over 100 of his company’s premises were closed.
Dominic Paul, the chief executive of Whitbread, has said that the new levy could force the business to shelve plans for new Premier Inn hotels across the country.
Last week it was announced that holidaymakers across England face a new tax on overnight stays under Government plans to give mayors greater economic power.
Local leaders will set the fee as a percentage of the cost of accommodation, rather than a flat rate, which ministers argue will protect budget trips.
The levy will have no upper limit, though Government sources said mayors are unlikely to make it too expensive, with most indicating it would be a few per cent.
Hotel and tourism firms have since warned the uncapped proposals will be “hugely damaging” and hit British holidaymakers hard, but ministers say the policy will help local leaders boost investment in their areas.
Indeed, according to The Sunday Times, Mr Paul said it may impact his company’s immediate plans for new hotels.
He said: “A number of future sites we have been looking at are not going to go ahead because of the business rates increase.
“And this new levy makes it even more difficult for us to invest.”
This comes after Whitbread closed the last of its Brewers Fayre and Beefeaters restaurants in a restructuring announced earlier this year.
All 106 Beefeaters pub-restaurants closed on September 10, including the branch in Evesham, Worcestershire.
The 89 remaining Brewers Fayre sites shut on September 7. The company has reported that the process would result in 3,800 jobs being lost, although it has said it is trying to retain as many staff as possible.
Across the country, some Beefeater and Brewers Fayre eateries have already been switched over to Whitbread’s own in-house Thyme brand.
Others are being sold and closed with the cuts set to impact about 12 per cent of the company’s 30,000-strong workforce in the UK and Ireland working in its restaurants.
A statement was issued on the restructuring earlier this year in which it was announced a number of the restaurants would be converted into additional Premier Inn rooms.
A spokesperson for Whitbread said: “We recognise the impact of this proposal on colleagues who work at the affected sites.
“As a business which recruits around 15,000 people every year, we expect to be able to retain a significant proportion of those affected and will be looking to redeploy as many of our impacted colleagues as possible.
“However, we do anticipate that the proposed changes, which are subject to consultation, would result in a reduction of around 3,800 roles of a total UK and Ireland workforce of around 30,000.
“We will do all we can to support those colleagues affected.”
