The Opportunity

Hospitality could generate 236,000 net additional jobs across the UK by 2015 bringing the total number employed by the British Hospitality Industry to 2.76m.

Hospitality is the UK’s fifth largest industry, directly employing more than 2.4 m people and contributing over £34bn in gross tax revenues. As the generator of eight per cent of total employment, the industry is ahead of the financial services, transport and communications, and constructions sectors.

Wealth and employment generated through hospitality is spread across the UK providing economic opportunities where jobs are most needed in both rural and urban locations.  As the engine of tourism and other sectors, such as contract foodservice, which rely on a vibrant and dynamic hospitality industry, the potential for further job-creation, export earnings and investment is yet to be fully tapped.

Positive and Pragmatic Partnership with Government

On 12 August 2010, the Prime Minister’s speech on tourism recognised that the income from the £115b tourism ‘sector was fundamental to rebuilding and rebalancing the UK’s economy’ further commenting that the sector provides ‘one of the best and fastest ways of generating the jobs we need so badly in this country.’

He set down two objectives for UK tourism: to recapture a position within the top five tourism destinations in the world measured in terms of inbound revenue (we have slipped to seventh place in recent years); and secondly, to increase to 50 per cent (from 36 per cent currently) the proportion of UK residents’ domestic tourism spend.

We seized the opportunity of the Prime Minister’s speech to raise awareness across government, media and the general public of the importance of hospitality and the crucial role it plays in the UK’s economy.

In August 2010, the BHA commissioned an independent Oxford Economics study to provide scenario analysis highlighted that there is a real opportunity for hospitality to generate 236,000 net additional jobs across the UK by 2015 bringing the total number employed by the British hospitality economy to 2.76m, currently 2.44m.

On 12 October 2010, the BHA launched its report Creating Jobs in Britain – A Hospitality Economy Proposition calling on the government to work as a positive and pragmatic partner to the hospitality industry to realise the job creation potential of the industry and by doing so achieve the following objectives:

• To realise the opportunity to create 236,000 additional jobs throughout the hospitality industry by 2015.
• To make Britain a world-class destination for tourism and business.
• To work in partnership with industry and government to propel hospitality’s contribution to economic recovery, rebalancing growth and the regeneration of local communities.
• To harness the knowledge and capabilities of the members of the BHA to help achieve a transformation in the efficiency and commercialism of the public sector, without additional burdens of cost on government or industry.

Policy and regulation can make or break the objectives outlined above and therefore the BHA has identified 5 core policy areas which we believe can provide a robust policy and regulative framework to achieve our objectives allowing our industry to deliver growth and help re-balance the economy.

The BHA is working with members, partners and government (at national and local levels) via 5 Hospitality Policy networks each with their own clear commitments to deliver our ambitious agenda.

We invite all of our members to engage actively in our work in the five areas defined above. We need to know how regulation in these areas affects your business. We would also like to discuss with you our propositions to government. If you would like to be involved, please let us know.