The leader of a major UK hospitality company has raised concerns about a proposed levy on overnight accommodation following the loss of nearly four thousand positions and the closure of more than one hundred establishments.
Dominic Paul, chief executive of Whitbread, warned that the new charge could jeopardise expansion plans for the hotel chain’s budget accommodation brand across England.
The Treasury recently revealed proposals for a new tax on visitors staying overnight, designed to provide metropolitan mayors with enhanced powers to generate local revenue.
The fee would be calculated as a proportion of the accommodation cost rather than a fixed amount, a system officials claim would safeguard affordable travel options.
The proposed charge would carry no ceiling, although officials familiar with the scheme indicated that mayors would probably set the rate conservatively, with most expected to apply only a small percentage.
Industry groups representing hotels and tourism have cautioned that the unrestricted nature of the proposals could prove extremely harmful to domestic travellers, while government representatives insist the measure would enable regional authorities to increase investment in their localities.
According to reports in The Sunday Times, Mr Paul suggested the levy might affect the company’s near-term strategy for developing additional hotel properties.
The remarks follow Whitbread’s completion of a restructuring programme that saw the final closures of its pub-restaurant chains.
All 106 Beefeater outlets ceased operations on September 10, including a location at the Oxford South Milton Interchange.
The remaining 89 Brewers Fayre sites, including one in Bicester, shut their doors on September 7.
The company has stated that approximately 3,800 positions would be eliminated as a result, though efforts are underway to preserve as many roles as possible.
Across Britain, certain former Beefeater and Brewers Fayre locations have already transitioned to Whitbread’s internal Thyme brand.
Other sites have been sold or closed permanently, with the reductions affecting roughly one in eight of the company’s UK and Ireland restaurant workforce of thirty thousand.
A company statement released during the restructuring announced that several sites would be transformed into additional hotel rooms.
A Whitbread representative said the company acknowledged the effect on employees at the affected locations.
With the business hiring approximately fifteen thousand people annually, a substantial number of those impacted should be retained, and the company would seek to reassign as many staff members as possible.
However, the proposed alterations, currently subject to consultation, were expected to result in approximately three thousand eight hundred redundancies from a total UK and Ireland workforce of roughly thirty thousand.
Every effort would be made to support those affected by the changes.