Do we need fewer restaurants — or a government that finally backs business?

It’s been an interesting day as far as opinions about business are concerned.

In the blue corner we have a new consortium of entrepreneurs calling on the Government to be radical and have a complete reset so that businesses can survive, flourish and pull the UK out of its doom loop. In the red corner we have the Chancellor’s entrepreneurship tsar saying we don’t need any more restaurants and hospitality venues and that’s not where her focus needs to be.

Both may have a point. We need the economy pulled out of the nosedive it’s currently in because of the tax system and soaring costs of doing business. The entrepreneurs want to reignite Britain’s ambition and say the government has “increased the amount of resistance businesses face and starved them of the capital and talent they need for fuel”. That sounds more or less what small businesses have been telling us for a few years now. Time for a change of approach.

On the other hand, perhaps in numbers terms the entrepreneurship tsar is right and we’ve reached peak restaurants, and they are at saturation point given the cost of living is keeping people from going out as often as they’d like. However we need the restaurants we’ve got to survive, good ones to come in and fill the gaps where some have closed and good value places that encourage more frequent outings. Who wants to go to our high streets if there are lots of empty premises and nowhere to enjoy something to eat along with the shopping. Our pubs and restaurants are vital. Lovely pubs and restaurants pull consumers when they do have money to spend. There are opportunities for people wanting to start out in the food and hospitality trade, but they have to be commercially viable so they can employ people and with the current costs of doing business that’s not happening and unemployment is rising. The hospitality sector is where many young people start and learn to work, and we need the taxes from a vibrant hospitality trade to boost our public services.

I’m backing the new entrepreneurial group on this one. Entrepreneurs are natural problem solvers. Listen to them please, government and cut the business rates and NICs, simplify the tax system, take out a lot of the admin burden and we can rebuild a thriving picture.