By Ed Surman

My restaurant is in a prime location delivering exceptional quality and I can say with some authority that Britain’s food and drink sector isn’t simply being “squeezed”.

It is being structurally undermined. The uncomfortable truth for ministers is this: much of that pressure now comes directly from government policy. Wednesday's Budget only confirms that, once again, the Government is failing to recognise the scale of the problem.

As such, the consequences will continue to be felt far beyond the kitchen pass.

After the Covid-19 pandemic, hospitality leaders aimed for operating profits of around 5%. Today, many are fighting to stay above 1%. That is not a business cycle; that is an existential shift.

How can the government claim that it is prioritising growth while food producers, hospitality businesses and supply chains face mounting costs and chronic staffing gaps?

Over the past two years, we’ve faced food input inflation that has been nothing short of punishing.

Almost all of it traces back to energy - the invisible force inside every ingredient. When those costs spiralled, we did what responsible businesses do: we adjusted menus, increased prices modestly and tried to protect our teams.

The result was a 15% drop........

© LBC