One Industry, One Ask – VAT’s The Problem!

Six months ago, Catherine Farinha met with Andreas Antona, who invited her to support Andy Lennox’s ‘Hospitality Voices’ movement. Now that Simpsons has sadly announced its closure last week, it seemed only appropriate to interview Andy for The Chefs’ Forum about working together as an industry to campaign for a VAT reduction for hospitality businesses in the UK.

Andy Lennox deserves enormous credit for the relentless work he has undertaken over the past eight months to unite the hospitality sector behind a single, clear message. Through The Wonky Table, Hospitality Voices, industry summits, parliamentary engagement and countless conversations across the sector, Andy has helped transform VAT reform from an isolated discussion into a nationally recognised campaign.

What is particularly encouraging is that the movement has now reached a tipping point. Chef Tom Kerridge is using his profile, influence and credibility to champion the cause through the #VATsTheProblem campaign brings unprecedented visibility to an issue that affects every part of hospitality. The campaign’s goal of securing one million signatures on a petition calling for hospitality VAT to be reduced from 20% to 10% is exactly the kind of united, public-facing action the industry needs.

“Andy Lennox deserves enormous credit for the relentless work he has undertaken since COVID to unite the hospitality sector behind a single, clear message. Through The Wonky Table, Hospitality Voices, industry summits, parliamentary engagement and countless conversations across the sector, Andy has helped transform VAT reform from an isolated discussion into a nationally recognised campaign.”
Andreas Antona, Chef Patron, The Cross Kenilworth

CLICK HERE to sign the petition

Supported by UK Hospitality, the British Beer & Pub Association, the British Institute of Innkeeping, CODE Hospitality, the Disciples of Escoffier, The Chefs’ Forum, and many of the country’s leading chefs and operators, the campaign demonstrates what can be achieved when hospitality speaks with one voice. Andy has been calling for ‘one industry, one ask’ for years, and it is fantastic to see that vision now gaining real momentum at a national level.

Catherine Farinha: Andy, you’ve been one of the most vocal advocates for hospitality reform in recent years. Looking back, what do you think has been the industry’s biggest challenge when it comes to influencing government?

Andy Lennox: For a long time, I believed the biggest challenge wasn’t convincing the government that hospitality needed support. The real challenge was convincing ourselves of what we actually needed and getting everyone to work together behind it.

Whenever the industry discussed support, there were always multiple priorities competing for attention: business rates, National Insurance, skills, energy costs, planning, and recruitment. Every one of them matters, but politicians don’t respond to ten different messages from the same industry. They respond to clarity.

Catherine Farinha: So how did the idea of focusing on VAT come about?

Andy Lennox: Over the last nine months, I’ve spent a huge amount of time speaking with operators, trade bodies, suppliers, campaigners and politicians. Through those conversations, one thing became increasingly clear: hospitality needed a single, unifying message.

That message became simple; hospitality needs VAT in line with Europe.

Not because VAT is the only challenge facing the sector, but because it’s the one policy change that could deliver meaningful benefits across pubs, restaurants, cafés, hotels, attractions and the wider night-time economy.

Catherine Farinha: Was VAT already a priority for the industry when this campaign began?

Andy Lennox: Not at all. When this latest phase of campaigning started, VAT wasn’t the industry’s unified position. It certainly wasn’t something all the major trade bodies were advocating together.

Everyone had their own campaigns and priorities. My concern was that if we continued down that path, we’d dilute our message and ultimately achieve very little.

The challenge wasn’t proving VAT was a problem, most operators already understood that. The challenge was getting the industry to agree on a solution and then speak with one voice.

Catherine Farinha: How did you go about building that consensus?

Andy Lennox: Through The Wonky Table, our Hospitality Voices network, and the research we developed alongside Bournemouth University, we worked tirelessly to keep the conversation moving forward.

We attended industry events, organised summits, held roundtables, engaged through social media, met with politicians and trade bodies, and spent countless hours in late-night WhatsApp conversations.

No matter where the discussion started, I always came back to the same message:

One industry. One Ask.

The goal was never to create another ask, it was to simplify the message.

Catherine Farinha: At what point did you realise the industry was starting to unite behind the idea?

Andy Lennox: Slowly but noticeably, the conversation began to change.

More operators started talking about VAT. More trade bodies began looking at how hospitality taxation works across Europe. Politicians were hearing the same message from multiple parts of the industry. Political parties started making VAT-related commitments.

Momentum was building.

Then something significant happened. For the first time in a long while, hospitality stopped debating what the ask should be and started agreeing on what it needed.

A summit held last month really helped solidify that position. We had the ask, we just needed the spark.

Catherine Farinha: Is that where the #VATsTheProblem campaign comes in?

Andy Lennox: Exactly.

The launch of #VATsTheProblem represents an important moment for the industry.

Tom Kerridge deserves enormous credit for using his platform to bring attention to the issue. Equally, UK Hospitality and the wider trade associations deserve recognition for getting behind a common message.

The ask couldn’t be simpler:

Hospitality needs VAT in line with Europe.

It’s clear, understandable and achievable.

Catherine Farinha: You’ve also seen this issue reach Parliament. What did that mean to you personally?

Andy Lennox: One of the proudest moments for me came recently when a statement I’d written was read at the Hospitality Roundtable by the ever-supportive Rosie Duffield MP and then referenced in Parliament.

After years of pushing this issue, it felt like another important step forward on what has often felt like a very long journey.

Catherine Farinha: What do you believe is the real story behind the campaign’s growing success?

Andy Lennox: The real story isn’t the campaign itself. It’s not the personalities involved.

It’s the unity.

Real change only happens when operators, suppliers, campaigners, politicians and trade bodies pull in the same direction.

Hospitality is the UK’s third-largest employer. We create jobs, support communities, drive tourism, keep high streets vibrant and contribute billions to the economy.

Yet we continue to operate with one of the highest hospitality VAT rates in Europe.

That simply doesn’t make sense.

Catherine Farinha: Are you optimistic about what comes next?

Andy Lennox: Very much so.

For the first time in years, the industry isn’t pulling in different directions. We’re moving together.

The conversation has changed. The momentum is growing. Support is building.

Now it’s time for trade bodies, operators and our celebrity chefs to continue carrying the message forward.

For years I’ve said hospitality needs one voice and one ask.

Today, we’re closer to that than we’ve ever been.

It’s no longer a question of if change will happen.

It’s a question of when.