What hospitality businesses should reflect on this National Licensing Week

Businesses in the sector are having to adapt to significant changes in consumer behaviours and in the labour market, as well as navigate other issues that have a broader impact on the economy, such as rising inflation and the cost-of-living crisis.

Despite this, National Licensing Week, from 13-17 June, provides an opportunity for hospitality businesses to focus on the things they can do to grow their business and lay the foundations for a thriving sector in the years ahead.

Hospitality businesses must build positive partnerships

Hospitality businesses throughout the UK must build positive partnerships with a variety of stakeholders in order to remain at the heart of communities, attract the right talent and to harmonise with other businesses.

These partnerships require a mutual understanding of the challenges facing the hospitality trade and also a desire to balance the needs of other stakeholders. Licensed premises are so often at the heart of a community and provide a welcome space for socialising. This inevitability comes with challenges when there are other businesses or residents nearby. Working with responsible authorities and local residents can serve to ensure that everyone benefits from the licensed premises.

The role for positive partnerships in maximising pavement license reforms

National Licensing Week gives hospitality businesses – particularly those operating in the night-time economy – the chance to reflect on the opportunities the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill (338 page /14.2MB PDF) offers and build strategies for capitalising on them as they look to continue their recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic.

The need to regenerate town centres post-Covid has been widely recognised and is reflected in the UK government’s legislative agenda. The Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill in particular contains provisions many hospitality companies will welcome.

Clause 184 and Schedule 17 of the Bill sets out the government’s plans to make permanent legislative changes which had temporarily been introduced during the pandemic that had made it easier for businesses to obtain pavement licenses in England.

The temporary measures offered more hospitality businesses the opportunity to offer food and drink to customers in outdoor areas on the street at a time when restrictions on people meeting indoors were in place. They helped many companies in the industry remain viable. The plans to relax the pavement licensing requirements permanently will be welcomed by businesses that have already invested in outdoor furniture and spaces as well as others that wish to expand their own operations out onto the street to reflect the change in consumer habits and expectations.

Hospitality businesses need to embrace positive partnerships if they are to make the most of the pavement license reforms planned.

Positive partnerships in this context will mean building good relationships with licensing authorities and other stakeholders that have an influence and say on license applications. This will include bodies such as the police, environmental officers, and residents. It is vital to engage with these groups.

An effective way of engaging with these stakeholders is to offer site visits – these can help hospitality businesses build a rapport and dialogue with groups that may have concerns about their plans. It can help people visualise the plans, better understand the purpose of an application and provide a forum for issues to be aired and worked through before applications are submitted.

As hospitality businesses consider how the pavement licensing reforms could benefit them, it will be important for them to build the positive partnerships they will need to realise their plans with the support of local authorities and the wider community.

A role for positive partnerships with education providers

Data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) suggests that while the number of people employed in UK hospitality roles is on the increase again, it still below pre-pandemic levels. It is well reported that the hospitality industry is struggling to fill roles within a variety of areas. Key partnerships are required with education settings to ensure that young people can see the variety of roles that the industry has to offer. Securing young and enthusiastic talent is required to sustain the industry.

It is vital that the partnerships we see between the hospitality sector and education are strengthened. Young people may not necessarily see a role in hospitality as a career or realise the beneficial skills that the types of jobs will provide them. With such a number of unfilled roles within the sector, more needs to be done to ensure that young people value the roles within the sector as worthwhile.

The government-backed apprenticeship scheme is an example of where businesses in the hospitality sector are able to offer training roles for those who want a hands-on learning experience. Everards Brewery, Prezzo Limited, ASK Italian and Fortnum and Mason are among many companies that have places available for front-of-house staff and chef apprentices.

The relationship between Red Carnation Hotels and Youth Employment UK, a leading youth organisation dedicated to tackling youth unemployment in the UK, provides an example of how positive partnerships can provide a route into hospitality careers for graduates and non-graduates.

Written by Hannah Burton of Pinsent Masons.