Get your voice heard!
We are keen for as many political candidates to visit hospitality venues across the country as part of the General Election campaign and hear about the vital contribution our sector plays in their constituency.
We have been facilitating visits up and down the country and have put together an easy to use toolkit to help you invite your local candidates to your venue and get your voices heard.
Eastbourne
We faciliated a roundtable with local businesses, stakeholders and parliamentary candidates, in partnership with The Eastbourne Hotel Association.
Eastbourne’s hospitality has a huge £400 million turnover and creates 7,000 jobs. The roundtable discussed the importance of hospitality locally and across the UK.
We were joined by parliamentary candidates Caroline Ansell (Cons) and Josh Babarinde OBE (Lib Dem). Thank you to Catherine Clifford and The Landsdowne Hotel for hosting.
Northhampton South
We hosted Mike Reader, Labour candidate for Northampton South, at Greene King's Britannia Pub.
Hospitality in Northampton South contributes £237 million in annual turnover and 4,969 jobs across 100 venues.
We held a discussion about the importance of hospitality in Northampton South and the rest of the UK with UKHospitality Members: David Gallacher, Mitchells & Butlers PLC and Chris Shimwell, Greene King. We discussed our asks for the next government, including the priorities we set out for the first 100 days of the next Parliament.
Tamworth
We organised a visit with Sarah Edwards the Labour candidate for Tamworth at Drayton Manor Resort Theme Park and Zoo.
In Tamworth, hospitality contributes £195 million in turnover and 3,802 jobs over 166 venues.
On the tour Sarah got to explore the many sections of the park from Thomas Land to the Viking’s area.
We held a discussion about the importance of hospitality in Tamworth and the rest of the UK and explored possible new ideas to bring tourists and locals to brilliant hospitality venues such as Drayton Manor.
Bristol Central
We facilitated a visit for Carla Denyer, Co- Leader of the Green Party and Green Party prospective parliamentary candidate for Bristol Central.
In Bristol Central hospitality contributes £1.3 billion in annual turnover and produces around 35,000 jobs across 759 venues.
We had a round table discussion with local businesses on issues affecting hospitality across Bristol and the rest of the UK with UKHospitality members: Nick Collins, Chief Executive of Loungers plc, Mehmet Kandemir and Jane Guy from the Bristol Hotel – The Doyle Collection, and Raphael Herzog FIH Chairmen of the Bristol Hoteliers Association.
We toured UKHospitality Member Loungers plc venue Cosy Club, including a tour of the kitchens and spoke to members of the team who are the beating heart of the business.
Witham/ Maldon
In our latest candidate engagement visit, Dame Priti Patel, Conservative candidate for Witham, and Sir John Whittingdale Conservative candidate for Maldon, visited a Punch Pub, The Chequers Inn.
In Witham hospitality contributes £110 million in annual turnover and employs 4,578 people across 200 venues.
In Maldon hospitality contributes £70 million in annual turnover and employs 2,468 across 286 venues.
Priti and John took part in a round table discussion on hospitality in their constituencies and the rest of the UK with UKHospitality Members: Jon Dale and Lee Greenwood from Punch Pubs and James Ullman from Wetherspoons.
We discussed our asks for the first 100 days and first 100 weeks of the new Parliament as well as the work we are doing around skills and creating a universal entry point for hospitality.
Use our toolkit to write to your local candidates
Invite them to your venue to help them understand your hospitality business and hear about the vital contribution our sector plays in their constituency.