CEO @FleetStreetPR | Former hack, now flack | Husband & Dad of boys + a dog | Love sport, pubs, food and drink | sad Portsmouth FC fan | Fitness fanatic (LOLs)
London
Joined March 2009
- Tweets5.1K
- Following3.8K
- Followers2.2K
- Likes15.9K
Pinned Tweet
From the Dead Sea to the Red Sea via big hills, dirt, desert & sand + a bit of rain & hail, plus the odd flat tyre, we did it! Thanks to my fantastic fellow @Pedallingforpub riders, crew + our sponsors & supporters, we've raised £257k for @apavementaway and @LTCharity
The @Pedallingforpub team of 27 riders has cycled 4 days from Amman to Aqaba through rain, sun, hail, sand and rocks. Many are bruised & battered but all are VERY proud to have completed it. We’ve raised over £250,000 for @apavementaway & @LTCharity. Thanks for your support!
Mark Stretton retweeted
We already face the highest tax on a Great British holiday - we are also the only country in EU that doesn’t have a lower VAT rate for hospitality if the government is serious about tackling the cost of living the last thing they should do is add another tax on working families.
Not quite sure where to start with this - from Treasury Minister Dan Tomlinson. Laughable… risible….insulting. The industry deserves better than this:
cityam.com/business-rates-da…
Mark Stretton retweeted
“This is the final nail in the coffin for some” - @UKHospKate
@thetimes front page today uses our analysis that the average pub rates will increase 76% over three years, compared to 16% for warehouses used by online giants.
Urgent action is required.
thetimes.com/uk/politics/art…
In case you missed it….
'The Budget last year hit the sector hard'
Allen Simpson from UK Hospitality spoke to #BBCBreakfast about the impact of increased National Insurance and business rates
bbc.co.uk/news/topics/cldyk3…
Mark Stretton retweeted
8 pubs a week and 2 restaurants a day closed in 2025 after Rachel Reeves's National Insurance raid gbnews.com/money/economy-pub…
Mark Stretton retweeted
A reminder that UK hospitality guests are the most highly taxed in Europe - paying the highest prices because our businesses are #TaxedOut
Mark Stretton retweeted
The country needs jobs. We create them but just as importantly we develop people, we creete places, we build communities - but we are being #TaxedOut
Support our Budget campaign - get involved and make your voice heard 👇🏻
Hospitality is the beating heart of our economy and communities, but we’re being #TaxedOut.
We are calling on the Gov't to act in the Budget.
✅Lower business rates
✅Fix NICs
✅Cut VAT
We’re making our voice heard & we need yours too.
Find out more 👉ukhospitality.org.uk/campaig…
Mark Stretton retweeted
⏰ Why is 'going out out' getting earlier and earlier? Our latest research reveals a clear shift in guest behaviour, with younger consumers leading the move towards earlier visits.
➡️ 𝗗𝗼𝘄𝗻𝗹𝗼𝗮𝗱 𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲: zonal.co.uk/resources/go-tec…
Produced in partnership with @CGA_insights
Mark Stretton retweeted
Very worrying the number of independent businesses reporting the same thing this week - small businesses in particular taken by surprise and only now realising the full impact of payroll increases. We need urgent reappraisal
First Payroll post budget, largest payroll we’ve ever had, and we are in April…
That is even despite trying to mitigate.
Worse than even the worst case model.
It’s a disgrace what has been done to #HOSPITALITY
@UKHofficial @UKHospKate
Mark Stretton retweeted
As a large employer of part time workers, the reduction of the NIC threshold will be particularly painful for hospitality.
"We estimate it's going to cost the hospitality sector an extra £3.5 billion" @UKHospKate told @itvnews about the total cost of last week's Budget.
Mark Stretton retweeted
Analysis of impact of Budget on hospitality by the excellent team at @UKHofficial here - up to £2500 per worker with hit on prices, jobs and investment. We urge the Chancellor to think again on halving the NIC limit mirror.co.uk/money/fears-30p…
Mark Stretton retweeted
"What we're asking for is to avoid this cliff edge and introduce a lower, permanent and universal multiplier for hospitality."
Our board member Fiona Eastwood, COO of @MerlinEntsNews, was on @bbc5live discussing what we need to see in today's Budget.
Mark Stretton retweeted
“Our companies desperately want to be able to support higher wages for staff but what is being asked of them is simply unsustainable if taxes are going to shoot up at the same time" our CEO @UKHospKate told @Telegraph.
telegraph.co.uk/politics/202…
Mark Stretton retweeted
"We bear a disproportionate burden across hospitality and high street businesses."
Our CEO @UKHospKate was on @BBCr4today discussing our joint call with @the_brc to implement a fairer level of business rates for hospitality and retail at the Budget.
ukhospitality.org.uk/high-st…
Mark Stretton retweeted
The proposed outdoor smoking ban would be a blow to hospitality businesses, and undermine the investment in outdoor spaces businesses have been encouraged to make.
Our Strategic Affairs Director, Tony Sophoclides, discussed this on @BBCNews.
Watch the clip 👇👇
Mark Stretton retweeted
Tourism is our second largest services export and fastest growing. Key that hospitality forms part of central plank of trade policy for domestic economic growth and investment in high street regeneration, people and place
This Government will deliver a trade strategy to help kickstart economic growth
We will reset and improve our relationship with the EU while seeking the best opportunities available around the world
My piece in the @ObserverUK 👇 theguardian.com/commentisfre…
Mark Stretton retweeted
Hospitality has recorded first quarter-on-quarter growth in outlets in 2 years. The @CGA_insights and @AlixPartners_UK Market Monitor shows a 0.5% increase in the number of licensed premises Mar-Jun - equivalent to 462 net new openings, or 5 per day.
nielseniq.com/global/en/insi…
