Hospitality industry leader confident despite 'immense challenges'

The executive survey indicated that almost half (47%) were optimistic about their trades over the next 12 months which represents a high recovery from a sharp 29% in the last CGA survey three months ago.

Despite this increase in trust in business, 20% of executives admitted to being pessimistic.

This is well above the 8% from the previous survey; but a long way below the 65% from January 2022.

More than four in five executives (84 per cent) said their business was profitable last year, while almost half (51 per cent) said they were more profitable compared to 2021

But after three years of disruption by Covid and soaring costs, many companies remain highly vulnerable. 14% of the polled said they feared that their business might fail in 2023.

Almost all executives said their food and drink costs would rise (96%), their energy (91%) and their on-site working conditions (91%), leading to average price rises of 12% and 10% respectively respectively for food and beverages on the menu for the past 12 months.

Four out of five of the Heads of State and Government would like to see a reduction in the VAT rate for the catering sector and a large number would like to see help reforming business rates (61%) and more generous support for energy costs (46%).

VIEW ALL JOBS