NEWS
Brits could fork out £2 billion more for takeaways if VAT rises and restaurants feel the pinch Marco Fuso to join Jestic at EPPS with live cooking masterclass Jestic Foodservice Solutions will be welcoming multi-award-winning pizza chef Marco Fuso to the Jestic stand (C60) at this month’s European Pizza & Pasta Show (EPPS) at Olympia on the 18 and 19 October. Marco Fuso will be showcasing his skills and live cooking his amazing Neapolitan pizzas using the Zeno Electric Pizza Oven from Alfa Pro, and will also be on hand to talk about his new consultancy service, MFP Consultancy, which offers start-up and established restaurants the benefit of his expertise and experience on topics including menu creation, bespoke dough, kitchen design and selecting equipment as well as business fundamentals like finance, recruitment and marketing. Michael Eyre, culinary director at Jestic, commented: “Marco Fuso is one of the most talented and decorated pizzas chefs in the world and has numerous accolades to his name including winning the World Pizza Championships, Pizze de Oscar and many more. We are very excited that Marco will be joining us on the Jestic stand at EPPS to put the Alfa Zeno Electric Pizza Oven through its paces. It promises to be a spectacle and a tasting opportunity not to be missed!” Marco Fuso added: “I’ve known the Jestic team for many years and I am really looking forward to joining them at EPPS. The Alfa Zeno Electric Oven is an amazing bit of kit which can reach temperatures of up to 500°C so it will be fantastic to cook with it. I will also be available to talk to EPPS visitors about my new consultancy service, so I look forward to meeting everyone at stand C60.” 4
Brits could end up forking out an extra £2bn for their takeaways unless VAT is frozen and vital support is given to the hospitality sector, the British Takeaway Campaign has warned. VAT on hospitality is set to increase to 12.5% this month, and then rise again to 20% in March next year. But as chronic labour shortages and postBrexit challenges on imports continue, restaurants are worried that they’ll be forced to pass on those costs to the consumer, or risk closing their doors and axing jobs. Total spending on takeaways in 2020 was £15.1bn, but if VAT increases and nothing is done to help the sector deal with its ongoing challenges, this could rise by more than £2bn, hitting hard working families, claim BTC. Currently, the cost of fish and chips is typically £9, but this could be set to rise to £10.30, and a 12” pepperoni pizza could be set to rise from £12 to £13.70 due to the VAT increase, it is claimed. To ensure Britain’s smallest restaurants and takeaways survive the coming months and can remain competitive without having to increase prices, the British Takeaway Campaign has launched its Five Point Plan for the sector’s recovery. In a letter to the Chancellor, Rishi Sunak, the British Takeaway Campaign has urged the government to scrap the VAT increase in March 2022 and freeze VAT at 12.5% permanently as well as extend business rates relief until the end of 2022. Additionally, they propose the introduction of a ‘Commonwealth Common Good’ visa, the British Takeaway Campaign agreeing with the government that we should aim to upskill the domestic workforce and make the hospitality sector a more appealing career. They also propose a Grants Extension into 2022 and an extension of the Kickstart Scheme. Commenting on the launch of the British Takeaway Campaign’s Five
Point Plan for the recovery of the sector, Ibrahim Dogus, chair of the British Takeaway Campaign said: “Takeaway restaurants added £7.2billion in value to the UK economy in 2020. Raising VAT while thousands of them struggle to get the ingredients they need and can barely find the staff to work in their kitchen is a real kick in the teeth. “The government must use the upcoming budget to protect our restaurants, not slap them down with costs they can’t afford. Without support, restaurants will be forced to pass the costs onto the consumer if they want to survive, meaning millions of families could end up paying more for their favourite curry, pizza or pho.” Trade associations representing the UK’s hospitality and tourism sectors have also joined forces to call on the Chancellor to introduce a permanent lower rate of VAT for these fragile sectors, helping to safeguard their future, protect jobs and to accelerate the UK’s economic recovery. UKHospitality, the British Beer and Pub Association, the British Institute of Innkeeping, Tourism Alliance and the Association of Leading Visitor Attractions are all warning that unless VAT remains permanently low at 12.5%, the government risks derailing the recovery at a time when businesses are still in survival mode. October 2021
