THE PEOPLE BEHIND THE CAMPAIGN
What is
Hospitality Voices?
We bring together the people who run hospitality businesses to make the case for change.
Run and organised by Andy Lennox and The Wonky Table, Hospitality Voices connects chefs, publicans, restaurateurs, café owners and hoteliers across the country.
WHERE IT STARTED
From Covid support
to a national campaign.
The Wonky Table brought operators together during Covid, sharing advice, raising concerns and campaigning for the support hospitality needed to survive. Led by Andy Lennox, that work began with businesses in Dorset and Hampshire and took their case to councils, MPs and government.
Andy and The Wonky Table went on to launch #VATinLinewithEurope, calling for a fairer VAT rate for hospitality. Hospitality Voices builds on that work by bringing more operators into the conversation and taking their experience to a national audience.
Our strength comes from people who know what it takes to open the doors each morning, pay their teams and keep customers coming back.
Read about The Wonky Table’s roots ↗VOICES FROM ACROSS HOSPITALITY
Different businesses.
Shared pressures.
Our voices include chefs, publicans, café owners, hoteliers and the people behind local hospitality businesses. Together they bring experience from across the sector and around the country.
Tommy Banks
The Black Swan, Oldstead
North YorkshirePaul Askew
The Art School Restaurant & Barnacle Restaurant and Bar
LiverpoolRick Cressman
Nailcote Hall Hotel
Berkswell, WarwickshireFrankie Dyer
Barbakan Delicatessen
Chorlton, ManchesterLydia Papaphilippopoulos-Snape
Warwick Street Kitchen, Saint Kitchen & Birmingham Hospitality Collective
Warwickshire & BirminghamAktar Islam
Opheem
BirminghamAndreas Antona
The Cross & The 3A Pub Co.
Kenilworth, WarwickshireDaniel Smith
The Red Lion, Hollington (The Place 4 Pies)
DerbyshireDave Burns
Quay Hospitality
Christchurch, DorsetDorian Kirk
ART Hospitality
Hereford, Gloucester, Worcester & BirminghamJonathan Greatorex
The Hand at Llanarmon
Ceiriog Valley, WalesJosh Eggleton
The Pony Chew Valley
Chew Magna, near BristolSpencer Bowman
Mettricks, Ascapart & Southampton Hospitality Together
SouthamptonTom Richardson & Ollie Boulton
The Three Moles
Selham, West SussexBowen Pies
Bowen Bakeries Ltd
Chorley, LancashireBrampton Social Club
Chesterfield, DerbyshireCasa Hotel & Global Brands
Chesterfield, DerbyshirePeak Edge Hotel & Red Lion
Stonedge, DerbyshireThe Bank small plates
Wrexham, Wales
A neighbourhood café, a destination restaurant and an independent hotel each have a different story to tell. Those experiences matter when decisions are being made about the future of the sector.
Our campaign calls for a targeted 13% VAT rate for small and medium-sized hospitality businesses. The aim is to give operators more room to protect jobs, invest in their businesses and keep serving their communities.
Hospitality gives people their first job, supports local suppliers and provides places to meet, celebrate and belong. We want those contributions to be reflected in the decisions government makes.
We bring together operators’ experiences, make the case publicly and ask MPs of every party to engage with the need for change.
TURNING VOICES INTO ACTION
Start with your MP.
Our MP tracker brings together the evidence on hospitality VAT so you can see where your representative stands and have an informed conversation with them.
It shows the source and scope of each position. General support for hospitality and a commitment to cutting VAT are recorded separately, and the tracker can be updated as new evidence emerges.
GET IN TOUCH
Contact Hospitality Voices.
For campaign enquiries, to get involved or to share an update to the MP tracker, contact Andy Lennox.