Pubs and restaurants hit with most sustained job losses since financial crisis

Pubs and restaurants have suffered from the longest period of job losses since the 2008 financial crisis, according to the latest research.

 

The Telegraph reported staff numbers in Britain’s services sector, which includes the hospitality industry, have fallen every month since October 2024, which coincided with Rachel Reeves unveiling plans to increase employers’ National Insurance Contributions and the National Minimum Wage.

 

According to data from purchasing managers S&P Global, the near 18-month decline marks the longest hiring downturn in 16 years.

 

Data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) published last month also revealed that hospitality lost nearly 9,000 employees in December 2025 compared to November 2025.

 

UKHospitality warned it was “entirely plausible” the sector could lose a further 100,000 workers as a result of the latest Budget.

 

Allen Simpson, chief executive of UKHospitality, said: “Hospitality is being hit by costs at every angle and it is the cumulative effect of this growing tax burden that is resulting in the number of people employed in hospitality continuing to fall.”

 

The figures come after the Treasury announced pubs and music venues across England will receive a 15% discount on their business rates bill and see their rates frozen for the next two years, while the rest of the industry did not secure any further support.

 

In response, chef Tommy Banks told The Caterer hospitality is “already at a crisis point” and feared the acceleration of closures in the first quarter of this year.

 

Hospitality already suffered an average of four closures per day in the last quarter of 2025.

 

Just this week, The Caterer reported on the closures of TNQ in Manchester after 22 years and the upcoming closure of Club Gascon in the City of London after almost 30 years in business.

 

S&P Global has been contacted for comment.