Restaurant interior food industry

Lots of chain restaurants are closing and they’re blaming business rates

Burger fans. Look away now

Burger fans, cover your eyes. Chain restaurant Byron – mmm those courgette fries – had to close loads of stores, along with Jamie's Italian, Prezzo, and more. A group of restaurant owners have written to the government to say urgent action is needed.

What it means: In their letter, they complained about three things: Rising business rates, rising employment costs, and

In the UK, businesses pay a tax based on the value of the property they operate in – they're business rates. According to the restaurants, the rates are soaring, and the government needs to act to "reduce the unnecessary costs of doing business". Rising prices – inflation – make it more expensive to run a business, and also means that consumers (that's us) have less money to spend on things like courgette fries.

They're saying there's something that can be done to save them, and the government should step in to try and stop the whole industry from collapsing.

Read the full story (BBC)

Related articles

Reader Comments