A Suffolk hotelier has warned that the tax measures in the Budget will have a "significant impact" - but urged businesses to look to the future.
David Scott, chief executive of Suffolk hotel group The Hotel Folk and chairman of The Suffolk Coast Destination Management Organisation (DMO) said businesses need to look ahead.
“Now is the time to rise to the challenge and we as business leaders, must support and continue to invest in our people to help us do that," he said.
“Since the latest general election a few months ago, it has been a waiting game filled with budget rumours.
"Now we know the facts which will have a significant impact for the hospitality industry, as well as the wider business community, it is now up to us to rise to the occasion."
The Hotel Folk owns six hotels in Suffolk including the Brudenell in Aldeburgh, the Swan at Lavenham and the Crown and Castle in Orford.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves has chosen to raise the bulk of the £40bn in tax rises she is seeking - a total of £25bn - from employers' National Insurance.
This is mainly by lowering the threshold for charging it from £9,100 to £5,000 - on top of raising the rate from 13.8% to 15%.
The measure will hit service-led industries like hospitality particularly hard - and has come under fire from Suffolk pub owners and other businesses.
Bury St Edmunds brewery and hospitality giant Greene King Nick Mackenzie warned that the layering of substantial costs on pubs next year is going to leave businesses with "difficult choices" around investment, prices and hiring.
“The importance of the pub and brewing sector, which employs more than one million people and invests £2bn a year in communities across the UK, cannot be underestimated."
A small 1p a pint drop in draught beer tax was "a drop in the ocean" compared to the extra tax burdens employers now faced, he said.
In addition, the minimum wage will go up by 6.7% next year from £11.44 an hour to £12.21 an hour - a measure that will hit lower pay industries such as tourism hardest.
But Mr Scott said: “It is easy to pick out the negatives of a budget, but now we know what is planned, how we react to it is in our control.
“As the finer details of the national minimum wage were defined, this is great news for our staff, and I support them earning more to cope with the increase in day-to-day living costs.
“We now need to find more innovative ways to continue to deliver fantastic service to our guests to make us as efficient as possible.
"That doesn’t mean cutting corners, it means reviewing and analysing all aspects of how we operate."
There were positives, he pointed out, such as relief to relief to business rates for retail, hospitality and leisure businesses have had a partial reprieve.
The relief was due to be pulled by the end of March - but some relief has been retained with a plan for a permanent reduction, said Mr Scott.
The current tax year's relief is set at 75% and will be cut to 40% in 2025/26 up to a cap of £110,000 per business.
"This is security on relief for an additional year with a commitment to a plan for more support in the future," he said.
“Yes, there are more areas, such as National Insurance contributions which couldn’t have been predicted and no doubt, will have a big effect on businesses.
"But now, it is up to us to look at ways in which we can make our guest service the best it can be."
His business remained strongly committed to training and development, he said.
“By creating a well-trained brigade of hospitality experts, whether that’s front of house staff, receptionists, housekeepers or our people who work in our kitchens, we must focus on enabling them to deliver an impeccable service for our guests and find more ways to be efficient within our teams because they will be the key to overcoming any changes a Budget brings.”
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