An award-winning restaurant is to close amid increasing costs and overheads.
The Ollerod in Beaminster, Dorset, will continue as a hotel and pub, which owner Silvana Bandini said was the “only feasible option”.
She said increases in utilities, food prices and staff costs – including increases to the minimum wage – had left the whole hospitality industry “on its knees”.
The Department for Business and Trade said the government would continue to monitor the impact of its decision to increase the national living and minimum wage.
Bandini told BBC Radio Solent’s Dorset Breakfast show the decision had been “incredibly difficult”, adding: “In order to survive, I don’t really have much of a choice.”
She blamed “multiple factors” including the cost of food which had “doubled or tripled”.
“Everybody knows that we have been absolutely slammed, not just my industry but the whole country, with wages and National Insurance,” she said.
“Commercial [energy customers] don’t have energy [price] caps so suddenly we are paying three times what we were paying for gas and electric, which is not viable.”
The restaurant, which launched in 2018, will close from 1 March.
Ian Girling, chief executive of the Dorset Chamber of Commerce, said it was “very sad news” that highlighted the challenges facing the hospitality industry.
He said rising staff costs, recruitment difficulties, food costs, higher National Insurance and business rates were all placing a “heavy burden on the sector”.
“All of this is further compounded by the rising cost of living, which is putting additional pressure on consumers,” he added.
Employers across the country have seen staff costs rise over the last two years, with increases to the minimum wage and National Insurance contributions.
A government spokesperson said: “The budget doubled down on our work to grow the economy and create good jobs, and we are delivering stability, cutting borrowing and getting inflation down.”
Environment secretary Emma Reynolds recently unveiled plans for a Food Inflation Gateway to assess the impact of government regulations on food businesses and their impact on food prices.
She also said industry would be able to apply for import tariffs to be suspended to protect the prices of key ingredients from large increases.
Credit: Source link
