Hospitality Sector

Josh Fenton-Glynn Excerpts

Wednesday 3rd September 2025 Commons Chamber

[Josh Fenton-Glynn (Calder Valley) (Lab)]

I am immensely proud of the hospitality sector in my constituency of Calder Valley. Our community has always been amazing, but it was recently made famous by the TV show “Happy Valley”. I always say to the public, “Come to our towns. They have the same amazing scenery, but far fewer murders.”

Hospitality is where neighbours meet, where milestones are celebrated and where people get to find out what is great about towns and communities. My constituency is a string of communities, from Brighouse to Todmorden, with a string of high streets. Between 2010 and 2018, our authority of Calderdale lost 50—nearly a quarter—of its pubs. They were among the more than 10,000 closures nationwide under the coalition and Tory Governments—and that was before the pandemic. Although I welcome the sudden interest in the hospitality sector from the Conservatives, theirs is a new concern.

Hospitality is vital to the future of our high street. As we see high streets moving away from retail because of the internet, we see people selling experiences and connection. An American friend recently asked about the difference between a pub and a bar. Drawing on my experience of both, I said that a bar was just somewhere someone goes to drink, but a pub is a community living room. Change has to include challenging some of the tied pub rules that meant that a pub in my constituency saw the amount it has to pay more than doubled by the pub company Stonegate, from £800 to £1,700 a week. That was because just one week after the six-month probationary period ended, the company invoked a clause to break the tie. That is the kind of irresponsible, rapacious practice that was allowed to thrive under the last Government, and I urge Ministers to look at that.

Conservative Members want to focus on one specific tax, not on the whole strategy for the high street, and it is that lack of holistic thinking that has landed us in this mess: too many tactics, not enough strategy. That is why I welcome this Labour Government’s plan, which has been welcomed by the hospitality sector, to reduce business rates, tackle late payments, cut red tape and deliver a £1.6 billion package that will save the average pub £3,300 next year. That support will give the venues some space to breathe. It will help to keep Calder Valley’s towns buzzing and help our hospitality to thrive, and when our hospitality thrives, our community thrives.