‘Restaurants won’t survive’: Michelin chef opens venues abroad to withstand UK taxes

A British Michelin-starred chef says he is opening restaurants abroad to subsidise his UK venues against a backdrop of high taxes and a struggling hospitality sector.

Jason Atherton is now in Forte dei Marmi, on the Tuscan coast in Italy, where he is preparing his newest opening, Maria’s, which will be in the Principessa hotel. The Sheffield-born chef now has restaurants all over the world, including in Dubai and St Moritz.

He said he was finding it easier to make a profit in countries with more forgiving policies towards restaurants, pubs and bars. “I am trying to sustain our business by opening abroad. We are opening one new restaurant in the UK but we are very cautious – we are certainly not gung ho like we were five or six years ago,” Atherton said from the kitchen at Maria’s.

The chef, 54, believes “restaurants will not survive” if high taxes continue. “If we didn’t have a global brand we would find it tough because the UK is tough,” he said. “I have restaurants that are losing money. We are not asking for handouts, we are asking for a fair chance to stay alive.”

Restaurants say they are struggling in the face of tough economic conditions. Business rates increased this year as Covid-era reliefs expired. The industry body UKHospitality has calculated that this will hit the average restaurant business with £32k of extra tax. Additionally, VAT, a consumption tax added to most goods and services, is at 20% for restaurants in the UK, the highest rate in Europe. In Italy, this is set at 10% for food sold in restaurants. The UK government has also increased employer contributions on national insurance for lower paid employees, leaving restaurants paying more tax for every person they hire. “All I know is that the tax on hospitality in the UK is the highest in Europe. Ireland VAT is 9% we are 20%, hospitality in Ireland is booming,” Atherton said.

The main beach at Forte dei Marmi in Tuscany, where Atherton is preparing to open his latest restaurant. Photograph: LH Images/Alamy

Kate Nicholls, the chair of UKHospitality, believes it is harder to run a restaurant in the UK than in . “The UK has one of the highest rates of VAT for hospitality in Europe, which puts our restaurants at a significant disadvantage to their competitors across the continent.”