Dear Friends, Guests, Suppliers and Colleagues of our beloved industry,
Back in October our friend Claire Bosi from Chef and Restaurant Magazine initiated a petition to create a Minister for Hospitality, for this petition to be discussed in Parliament, we only needed 100,000 signatures, an easy task one would have thought all things considered…. How wrong we were.
Over 2 months later and we are still a considerable amount of signatures away from the target, something that we are struggling to understand, and I wish to clarify as to why there is a need for this Minister.
Our industry employs more than 5 million people directly and indirectly, and contributes with more than £130 billion to the UK Economy, yet it seems that in Government we do not deserve enough recognition as the 3rd largest employer, and our representation is currently split between what looks like two overcrowded government departments: the department for business, energy and industrial strategy and the department for digital, culture, media and sport; that often cannot agree between themselves.
This all means that we do not have a dedicated Minister that can fight for our interests, protect our jobs and help us in being part of the solution opposed to as part of the problem as we have been made to feel over the last few months.
Our industry needs a clear and strong voice that understands the complexity of all parts of our sector, and it’s sub-sectors, and that can liaise with the industry representatives and bring forward suggestions to the Chancellor and policymakers, We deserve a #SeatAtTheTable.
I plead you all to sign this petition now and share with your friends and family, colleagues and employees, your local MP and your customers and ask them to sign too. The future of our industry may well depend on this.
Don’t delay any further, the time is now, please sign here.
Best wishes,
Francisco
Francisco Macedo FIH, General Manager, Cliveden House
