![Pinterest](https://pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=https://uknews.evprotec.com/tom-kerridge-hospitality-strain-like-walking-uphill-on-glass-barefoot/&media=https://uknews.evprotec.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/130598799_631a79f9-493c-415b-b4e7-628078d8c67b.jpg&description=Image source, BBC/Bone Soup Since Covid, there hasn't been any respite for the hospitality industry, says celebrity chef Tom Kerridge. For his TV series he has been going behind the scenes at pubs and restaurants across the UK, as the industry he knows and loves is hit by a tidal wave of rising costs. "There hasn't been any positivity or good news in three or four years," says Tom Kerridge. "Every day feels like you're walking uphill, on glass, barefoot." Since the pandemic, there's been "absolutely no let-up" for hospitality venues, says the chef who runs six restaurants - including The Hand and Flowers, the only pub in the UK with two Michelin stars. Kerridge, who has been running businesses for 18 years, says the various costs involved usually fluctuate independently but have now all risen at once, like a "huge wave". These include energy bills, rent and mortgage repayments, food and insurance - even cleaning materials. "There isn't a single thing that is cheaper," he says. Energy bills in particular have been "catastrophically massive". Restaurants use a lot of energy, from powering ovens and fridges in the kitchens to lighting front of house - making them expensive places to run. Kerridge was quoted a 600% increase on his energy bill for The Hand and Flowers. Image source, Bone Soup/Edwin Hasler Image caption, Kerridge opened The Hand and Flowers in Marlow in 2005 He says his venues now buy their energy on a monthly basis and are not signed up to any contract because prices are so variable. To save energy they are also not switching on lights outside and have changed to energy-saving bulbs and motion-sensor lights inside. Just under a third of hospitality businesses felt optimistic about the next 12 months, according to a survey carried out on behalf of four trade industry bodies in May this year - the majority of the 395 businesses which responded were not feeling so positive. Energy costs were one of the biggest concerns, with the average bill up 81% since la){kind=link}
Since Covid, there hasn’t been any respite for the hospitality industry, says celebrity chef Tom Kerridge. For his TV series he has been going behind the scenes at pubs and restaurants across the UK, as the industry he knows and loves is hit by a tidal wave of rising costs.
“There hasn’t been any positivity or good news in three or four years,” says Tom Kerridge. “Every day feels like you’re walking uphill, on glass, barefoot.”
Since the pandemic, there’s been “absolutely no let-up” for hospitality venues, says the chef who runs six restaurants – including The Hand and Flowers, the only pub in the UK with two Michelin stars.
Kerridge, who has been running businesses for 18 years, says the various costs involved usually fluctuate independently but have now all risen at once, like a “huge wave”.
These include energy bills, rent and mortgage repayments, food and insurance – even cleaning materials.