South Cotswold MP wants to see more done to support small local businesses
Roz Savage has been visiting businesses in her constituency with concerns
The MP for the South Cotswolds, Roz Savage, says a number of small businesses in her constituency have been reaching out to her with concerns about the future.
It comes as she made a visit to The Tunnel House in Coates, to meet a pub landlord who is frustrated with the Autumn Budget.
Roz Savage MP met with Paul Austen, owner of The Tunnel Inn in Coates and The Bell at Sapperton, both near Cirencester, to discuss how the latest Budget has affected his business.
This comes after what Roz describes as “meagre support” for the hospitality industry in last month's Budget.
During the visit, Paul showed Roz and Councillors Joe Harris and Mike McKeown around his newly acquired pub.
Even though it is currently a building site and won’t be open until next Spring at the soonest, he says he has just seen his business rates jump by 89%.
He described the tough business environment now faced by the hospitality sector, which is still struggling to rebuild post-pandemic, while many workers returned to Europe in response to Brexit.
Business owners contacting Roz have said their concerns have grown by the Chancellor previously increasing employers’ National Insurance Contributions, and now increasing the National Living Wage.
Before the Budget, Roz and her Liberal Democrat colleagues called for a slash in VAT for the hospitality sector from 20% to 15% to help them survive.
Roz said: “This government and previous governments have only negatively impacted our hospitality industry by increasing VAT, National Insurance and taxing pubs, cafes and restaurants to oblivion.
“Pubs form the beating heart of so many of our rural communities, so if the pub goes, community cohesion often dies with it.”
Paul Austen, owner of The Tunnel House, said: “It feels like we have been in war and on the back foot since March 2020.
“We were fighting battles and conflicts before Covid but we’ve been in total war since then and our biggest enemy has been the governments, not just Labour but the Tories before them.
“Successive governments have taken advantage of the lovely people running hospitality businesses and these are people who can’t go on strike.”
We’ve contacted the government for a response.