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During the much-anticipated Autumn Budget speech in October, Chancellor Rishi Sunak revealed some essential changes to business rates and alcohol duties – but it isn’t all we’d hoped for. In his speech, Sunak outlined desperately needed plans for post-pandemic economic recovery, but admitted that the crisis isn’t over yet.

Over the last few months, there’s been increasing pressure on hospitality operators to pay the Real Living Wage (RLW). This comes after Sacha Lord, Night Time Economy Advisor for Greater Manchester, accused the hospitality industry of ‘shooting itself in the foot’ by continuing to pay staff minimum wage.

Hospitality and tourism operators across the country are calling for the government to permanently lower the VAT rate to protect thousands of jobs. This comes after the tax rate for restaurants, pubs, bars, hotels and other sector businesses rose from the temporary 5% reduced rate to 12.5%.

A common question in the hospitality industry is ‘are job boards dead?’. Before we respond, it’s worth noting that the job search has changed significantly over the last few years. If you want to scoop up top talent, you might need to change the way you approach hiring – especially now the talent pool is drying up.

Over the last few months, businesses have called for ministers to issue visas to overseas workers in a bid to end the labour crisis in the UK. This comes after the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) warned that staff shortages could last for up to two years if the government doesn’t relax its post-Brexit immigration rules.