Street vendors face a crisis of confidence ahead of the Budget

Tuesday 28 October 2025 12:14

Share

• 
  Share on Facebook
• 
  Share on Twitter
• 
  Share on LinkedIn
• 
  Share on WhatsApp
• 
  Share on Email

Grassroots traders are rapidly losing confidence in their future ahead of the Autumn Budget, according to new data.

Only one per cent of respondents in a new hospitality survey described the UK street food sector as having a strong and viable future, according to independent hospitality group Kerb.

“There is a clear message here for the government,” said Simon Mitchell, the group’s chief executive.

“Street food has long been the starting point for a new generation of hospitality businesses – but the current system does not support this.

He said that businesses “have had to massively reduce labor costs, which means company owners are stuck on the front lines of day-to-day operations rather than investing in growth.”

Street food has historically been an important growth stage for hospitality brands, with Franco Manca, Bleeker Burger and Pizza Pilgrims all starting out in just one food truck.

But a survey of more than 100 street food businesses found that they have been forced to change the way they operate due to rising costs: 88.5 percent of businesses have raised menu prices in the last six months, 71.2 percent have reduced staff hours, and 29 percent have cut their entire headcount.

A quarter have reduced trading days, while nearly half have postponed growth plans, including expanding to permanent locations.

Call for ‘urgent action’ in the Budget

UK Hospitality has called for urgent action in next November’s Budget to address severe job losses in the sector, particularly by cutting business rates, reducing VAT and reforming National Insurance contributions.

Job losses in hospitality are expected to reach 111,000 by the end of November, around 13 months on from the previous Budget which hit hospitality at an additional annual cost of £3.4 billion.

Curb found that VAT cuts were the most popular among survey respondents, with 94.2 respondents saying a VAT cut of 10–13 percent – ​​in line with the European average – would make the biggest difference.

Heston Blumenthal has also called for VAT cuts to “save Britain’s pubs”, while more than 600 Greene King landlords have called on Chancellor Rachel Reeves to lower pub tax ahead of the Autumn Budget, arguing that pubs face “serious pressure”.

Around two-thirds of UK hospitality businesses have less than six months of reserves remaining, while one in five hotel businesses do not have any reserves.

“Other countries are protecting their hospitality sectors and benefiting from greater investment, growth and the development of independent food sectors,” Mitchell said. “It’s time for Britain to do the same.”