Cook

Bistros, Bakeries & The guest Chef Series at The White Horse Pub!

[ThatPubChick 🥂 @pub_that]

I cannot tell you how happy it makes me to finally see the top trade bodies & industry folk I respect & have been working with, come together and get behind one single ask. Seeing this campaign splattered across social media this morning is wonderful!

https://t.co/eXGXhqqGRc

[The Caterer @Caterertweets]

Sambal Shiok restaurant closes after eight years of trading

➡️ https://t.co/NRQmU4AzsL

https://t.co/NRQmU4AzsL

[BBC News (UK) @BBCNews]

Top UK chefs call for 10% VAT cut for pubs and restaurants https://t.co/iwRsziJx0P

[Cook @GaryUsher_]

@RachelReevesMP This is wonderful Rachel & it really echos the warmth & positivity across the country right now. I think it’s time to play that D:Ream track again as the soundtrack to our lives.
🎉 🥳 🎈

[Cook @GaryUsher_]

@RachelReevesMP These words show such lack of empathy to what’s really going on it makes you look like a psychopath.
Can I assist you in winning back some hearts and votes ?
Try this…
“ I wasn’t qualified to run the countries economy & I’ve completely fucked up. I’m sorry”

[LBC @LBC]

‘I’ve never known it to be this bad in 30 years of being in this industry.'

@Sacha_Lord says Chancellor Rachel Reeves has failed British businesses.

[Robert Richardson FIH MI @RBWR]

Full disclosure, for the majority of my career I’ve been an operator, and I know what it feels like to go to bed hoping tomorrow’s cash flow will enable you to pay tomorrow’s bills. My heart goes out to anyone experiencing the sleepless nights that come with running a business and being responsible for the livelihoods of their teams, and their families.

This weekend held one ambition, dinner out at a restaurant that had been on the radar for a while. A restaurant that opened in 2016, and one that was only months away from celebrating its tenth anniversary.

Ten years is a huge achievement for any business, let alone one operating under some of the highest cost burdens in Europe.

Then, just two days before the booking, the restaurant closed with immediate effect. The rising costs associated with running a business in 2026 were, in the owner’s own words, the “cause of death”.

Whilst patrons, myself included, are obviously saddened by the news, for the owners this is the end of a dream. For the team, it means livelihoods lost at a time when UK unemployment is at its highest level in years, with approximately 1.78 million people currently unemployed across the country.

The owners are now filing for bankruptcy, their dream, shattered.

As tragic, and arguably avoidable, as this story is, it is by no means unique. Across the UK, hospitality businesses are closing at an alarming rate, which pushes up our obscene unemployment rates each and every day.

Last week’s local election results delivered an unambiguous message from voters, reflecting growing frustration around the rising cost of living, taxation, and economic uncertainty facing both individuals and businesses alike.

Now, against this backdrop, a backdrop of a profession that feels its voice simply is not being heard despite being one of the UK’s greatest economic and social assets, we wait to see where government takes us next.

It is a fact that hospitality is a force for good. It is an economic driver, a creator of opportunity, and one of the few professions where any person, from any background, can grow, develop, and thrive.

When hospitality succeeds, communities succeed. When hospitality is supported, the wider economy benefits too.

The organisation I lead has more members than some countries have populations, so I speak with authority when I say that even in difficult times, I remain optimistic about the resilience, determination, and spirit of our hospitality family.

This profession of ours has faced enormous challenges before, and yet it continues to innovate, adapt, and inspire.

As long as we are left able to do so.

Hospitality matters, deeply, and it deserves not only to survive, but to thrive.

#Hospitality #HospitalityFamily #HospitalityMatters #ChesterHospitality

[The Caterer @Caterertweets]

MeatLiquor closes most of its restaurants

➡️ https://t.co/SLnYR7RMlf

https://t.co/SLnYR7RMlf

[Paul Charity @PaulCharity1]

One in five hospitality businesses fear collapse in the next 12 months, according to an industry-wide survey that comes days before rises in tax and employment costs kick in - in Propel

[Cook @GaryUsher_]

Oh gawd…
@TheWhiteHorsePu

[Cook @GaryUsher_]

This thread is very interesting.
I don’t know who Gareth is but all his responses to people are 100% factually correct & it really highlights that most people’s assumptions about the cost of basic business & the cost of employment are wrong

[Garreth McDaid @garrethmcdaid]

Reminder that it costs €35k per annum to employ someone in a coffee shop on minimum wage, but people can't understand why a croissant costs €5.

[Cook @GaryUsher_]

The economy didn’t grow in January! 😮

[Cook @GaryUsher_]

Oh gawd…
@TheWhiteHorsePu

[Sacha Lord @Sacha_Lord]

Energy Rip Off: I strongly urge the Gov't to step in and give Ofgem more powers.

Hospitality is very energy intensive. We cannot see a return to the start of the Ukraine war, when the Energy Co's saw us as a cash grab, with cowboy brokers locking operators into untenable 3 to 5 year inflated contracts.

The same year they posted record profits.

[The Caterer @Caterertweets]

Chef Tommy Banks: ‘Britain doesn’t need any more restaurants’ claim confirmed our fears

➡️ https://t.co/MQ9Hanv3J8

[Cook @GaryUsher_]

Oh gawwww…
@TheWhiteHorsePu

[The Morning Advertiser @morningad]

Tourist tax ‘the wrong policy at the worst possible time’

Fresh concerns have been voiced over both the timing and potential impact of proposals to introduce overnight visitor levies in England.

Read more:
https://t.co/CL64wVWNaR
#HospitalityLeaders

[UKHospitality @UKHofficial]

"Tax has made it so unaffordable to hire people at the start of their career."

CEO @allen_m_simpson on @Channel4News, talking about the effects of taxation on the UK job market.

[Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) @fsb_policy]

Employment costs are far too high, and it’s deterring small firms from hiring young people.

We need an uprate in the Employment Allowance, help with high energy costs and easing of business rates to help small firms.

“The evidence is pretty damming,” FSB’s @MMcTagueFSB tells @AliFortescue on Sky News

[Cook @GaryUsher_]

A night to remember & cherish.
In a world of shit right now these are the good times. Thank you to everyone involved 🙏

[The White Horse Pub @TheWhiteHorsePu]

When we took over this derelict country pub 3 years ago we had absolutely no plans to start a guest chef series. Last Wednesday we hosted our 60th event & it was a truly special occasion because chef Phil Howard came to cook!
Chef Phil Howard spent 3 days with us up in Churton & here’s a glimpse of what went down!
If you like the sound of our guest chef series we have 42 events planned this year alone, so please pop over to our website to check them out. Thank you 🧑‍🍳👩‍🍳