‘Missed the mark spectacularly’: Scottish industry bodies respond to Scotland’s Budget

Scottish hospitality groups have reacted with frustration to the Scottish government’s latest Budget, claiming the measures have not gone far enough to support a sector that is being pushed “to the brink”.

Finance secretary Shona Robison outlined the SNP’s 2026-27 Budget yesterday (13 January), announcing there will be cuts to basic, intermediate and higher business rates, alongside a £184m transitional relief package spread over the next three years.

Hospitality, tourism and leisure businesses will receive a 15% rates discount, capped at £110,000 per business each year. Firms based on Scotland’s islands will continue to receive 100% rates relief.

But, in the wake of a rates revaluation set out by chancellor Rachel Reeves last November, industry bodies, including UKHospitality Scotland and the Scottish Tourism Alliance (STA), have claimed these measures do not respond to the challenges facing operators across the country.

In a post on LinkedIn, Leon Thompson, executive director of UKHospitality Scotland, wrote that the Budget “missed the mark spectacularly on business support”.

He added: “Rather than assisting hospitality navigate through the ruinous revaluations announced last month, our businesses have been left without anything approaching real support.”

Thompson went on to say that Robison’s promise of relief for operators “won’t cut it for businesses facing into ludicrous rates increases” alongside “tax burdens heaped on them by the UK Government”. He warned that the sector will face more job losses and closures.

Responding to Thompson’s post, Sarah Heward, founder of the Real Food Café in Perthshire, shared that her business’s rateable value has increased by 64%, adding that “Scottish tourism and hospitality […] is being treated like a cash cow by both the Scottish and UK Governments”.

Marc Crothall, chief executive of the STA, shared similar sentiments and said that, while Holyrood has responded with a “package of modest short-term mitigation, the underlying issues within the system remain unresolved”, and that a failure to act will “push businesses to the brink”.

The Scottish government’s Budget comes in the wake of tax changes announced by chancellor Rachel Reeves last November, which left many operators in England and Wales fearful for their future, with some claiming the sector “has been gaslit”.

In response to intense sector pressure, it is understood the Treasury is preparing a support package for the pub industry in England after pressure from landlords and industry groups.

Meanwhile, hotels – despite facing some of the steepest cost increases across hospitality – have been notably absent from the government’s pledges on further business rates support.

Jo Boydell, chief executive of Travelodge, which operates more than 630 budget hotels across the UK and expects its rates bill to almost double over the next three years, warned that “hotels cannot be hung out to dry” by the government.

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