Fife restauranteur and Masterchef finalist Dean Banks has accused politicians of ignoring one of the country’s biggest industries.
The owner of several award-winning venues across Scotland, including the Haar and Dune in St Andrews, said not a single party in this election campaign had listened to hospitality business owners’ concerns about VAT rates and support.
The company owner is calling for value added tax (VAT) to be cut to 12.5% to help an industry struck hard by the pandemic, as well as the cost-of-living crisis.
He recently offered customers at his restaurants 20% off their bills to highlight the amount small businesses are handing over.
And Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and chancellor Jeremy Hunt were jokingly banned from his establishments in protest at the UK Government’s “brutal” VAT rates.
Dean Banks calls on politicians to reduce VAT
Speaking with The Courier, Mr Banks warned scores of restaurants, pubs and small businesses could go under without action.
He said: “Since the spring statement, we have heard nothing from any politicians.
“They have just let it die down, I feel. There has not really been any engagement with us.
“With the general-election coming up, a big thing for the hospitality industry is it is so difficult to choose a party or who you will vote for, because none of them are offering to help one of the biggest industries in the country.
“This call out is to see if any politician or party is actually going to stand-up and help our industry, and do what is required.
“And if they do, that would be a vote winner.”
VAT-free Friday
He said his previous campaign had highlighted to customers the struggles the hospitality industry faces when paying “high VAT rates”.
“Our VAT-free Friday campaign went well,” he said, adding: “A lot of customers started to understand the costs our industry faces with the VAT rate as it is.
“They appreciated, too, getting a discount, especially during the cost-of-living crisis.
“People understand profits are taxed. But before even that, the VAT is taken off.
“It is almost hidden from the customer.
“The best way to describe it is the cost of a pint. If you go to the pub at the moment and a pint costs £5, you think ‘bloody hell, how can it cost that’.
“But a whole £1 goes straight to the government as VAT, so the pub is only taking £4.
“We are not asking for a hand-out. We are asking for a reduction on what we are giving over.
“We are calling for a VAT reduction to 12.5%. Government (also) needs to re-look at rateable values and how they are calculated.”
High Streets need hospitality
The future of Scotland’s high streets depends on a strong and stable hospitality sector, he said.
He added: “If we look at any high street in Scotland, hospitality is a massive part of that. If there’s a busy high street, there are usually a lot of restaurants on it.
“So it comes hand-in-hand, and we all know the horror stories across town and city centres across Scotland right now, with so many ‘for lease’ signs on empty units.
“That’s because small business cannot cope with the stresses of these taxes. Yes it may have worked five years ago, but not any more.
“Covid changed everything, inflation has changed everything, so government needs to keep with the times, but this is just falling on deaf ears.”
And on “banning” Mr Sunak and Mr Hunt, he said: “It wasn’t about party politics.
“It was about calling out those in power who could have done something but don’t.”
Conversation