‘Restaurants won’t survive’: Michelin chef opens venues abroad to withstand UK taxes
A British Michelin-starred chef says he is opening restaurants abroad to subsidise his UK venues against a backdrop of high taxes and a struggling hospitality sector,Jason Atherton is now in Forte dei Marmi, on the Tuscan coast in Italy, where he is preparing his newest opening, Maria’s, which will be in the Principessa hotel,The Sheffield-born chef now has restaurants all over the world, including in Dubai and St Moritz,He said he was finding it easier to make a profit in countries with more forgiving policies towards restaurants, pubs and bars,“I am trying to sustain our business by opening abroad.
We are opening one new restaurant in the UK but we are very cautious – we are certainly not gung ho like we were five or six years ago,” Atherton said from the kitchen at Maria’s.The chef, 54, believes “restaurants will not survive” if high taxes continue.“If we didn’t have a global brand we would find it tough because the UK is tough,” he said.“I have restaurants that are losing money.We are not asking for handouts, we are asking for a fair chance to stay alive.
”Restaurants say they are struggling in the face of tough economic conditions,Business rates increased this year as Covid-era reliefs expired,The industry body UKHospitality has calculated that this will hit the average restaurant business with £32k of extra tax,Additionally, VAT, a consumption tax added to most goods and services, is at 20% for restaurants in the UK, one of the highest rates in Europe,The European average for restaurants is about 12%.
In Italy, this is set at 10% for food sold in restaurants.The UK government has also increased employer contributions on national insurance for lower paid employees, leaving restaurants paying more tax for every person they hire.“All I know is that the tax on hospitality in the UK is the highest in Europe.Ireland VAT is 9% we are 20%, hospitality in Ireland is booming,” Atherton said.Kate Nicholls, the chair of UKHospitality, believes it is harder to run a restaurant in the UK than elsewhere in Europe.
“The UK has one of the highest rates of VAT for hospitality in Europe, which puts our restaurants at a significant disadvantage to their competitors across the continent,”Atherton has been awarded five Michelin stars throughout his career for his various restaurants,Row on 5, his Mayfair venue, was awarded a star seven weeks after opening, and was given two stars the following year,He initially worked with Gordon Ramsay, launching the Maze restaurant, before venturing out on his own, opening venues such as Pollen Street Social and Berners Tavern,He is enjoying life in Italy, where he is working with executive chef Giorgio Cicero.
“It is quite a personal project to me because we’ve been coming for 12 years as a family.I am having a lot of fun learning about Italian food,” Atherton said.But is he nervous about being a Brit serving pasta to Italians? “I am a chef restaurateur who has been around the chopping block multiple times,” he said.“Giorgio, who has worked with me for eight years, is now back to his homeland and together, with me, he has written a menu.”Although taxes and rising costs are keeping margins tight in the UK, Atherton thinks it is important to keep affordable options on the menu.
The Michelin-starred chef has been determined to serve pints of beer for under a fiver, for example,He said he saw a television news report that you cannot get a pint in London for under £7,“I thought is that right? I looked at the margins and decided to knock our pint down so people can come and have a pint,We also didn’t put the prices up at Row when we got two stars, they are the same as when we had one star,”Atherton added that at his restaurant Three Darlings in Chelsea, the average lunchtime spend is £30.
“The thing I look forward to the most is taking my family out for lunch or dinner on my one day off on a Sunday.It is one of the most enjoyable things you can do as a human.I think if we lose that or a part of it in the UK it is devastating on every level.If that becomes a massive luxury that’s terrible.” This article was amended on 7 May 2026.
An earlier version said that UK restaurants VAT rate was the highest in Europe; it is one of the highest,
Joseph Fiennes on parenting, politics and banning children from social media: ‘Stand up, Keir, this is your kids’ generation’
He’s played English titans from William Shakespeare to Gareth Southgate, but what does the actor really think about the country today?The Guardian’s journalism is independent. We will earn a commission if you buy something through an affiliate link. Learn more.We are at a corner table in a breakfast place in Chelsea, Joseph Fiennes opposite me on the banquette with his jack russell, Noa. “Dog duty,” he says, apologetic
From The Sheep Detectives to Rivals: your complete entertainment guide to the week ahead
Hugh Jackman and Emma Thompson star in a farmyard mystery, while the spirited bonkbuster returns for a smutty second outingThe Sheep DetectivesOut now Few can claim a writing career as varied as Craig Mazin, creator of TV’s Chernobyl, co-writer of several Scary Movie and The Hangover films, and co-creator of The Last of Us. Here, he turns his hand to a comedy-mystery about sheep, starring Hugh Jackman and Emma Thompson. Adapted from a novel by Leonie Swann.KokuhoOut now Two-time Japan Academy film prize best director winner Lee Sang-il directs this prestige adaptation of Shuichi Yoshida’s novel. It holds the record for the highest-grossing Japanese live-action release ever in Japan – an impressive feat for a nearly three-hour-long period drama set across five decades in the kabuki theatre world
Historic Oxford cinema under threat as Oriel College refuses to extend lease
The survival of one of the UK’s oldest independent cinemas is under threat while its landlord, the University of Oxford’s Oriel College, refuses to extend its lease to allow what its director says are vital renovations.The Ultimate Picture Palace in east Oxford opened in 1911, and has entertained generations of students and residents, including the Oscar-winning director Sam Mendes. It sells tickets for its 106 seats through an old-fashioned box office window to patrons queueing on the street, and its screen is behind a manually opened curtain.After decades of instability, the UPP, as it is known by locals, recently became a community-owned business when more than 1,200 supporters raised funds to keep the cinema operating in the Grade II-listed building.But plans to secure its long-term future have been dashed by Oriel College’s reluctance to approve an extension that would allow further investments and renovations to take place
Arthur Miller opens up about marriage to Marilyn Monroe in newly unearthed recordings
He was one of the greatest playwrights of the 20th century and she was one of the greatest actors. In newly unearthed recordings made over a period of nearly three decades, Arthur Miller opened up about his short-lived marriage to Marilyn Monroe, saying she wanted a husband who was a “father, lover, friend and agent,” and the child she longed for would have been an “additional problem”.In taped conversations with his friend and biographer Prof Christopher Bigsby, Miller said he had felt “death was always on her [Monroe’s] shoulder – always”. He had believed that if he did not “take care of her life” she would come to a “catastrophic end”.“One time I brought doctors to pump her out because she had swallowed enough stuff [drugs] to kill her,” he said
Man charged over bomb hoax after Peter Kay show evacuated
A man has been charged over a bomb hoax after a live show by comedian Peter Kay in Birmingham was stopped when a “potentially suspicious bag” was found around the venue.The Utilita Arena Birmingham was evacuated and a 19-year-old man was taken into custody, West Midlands police said on Friday evening.On Saturday, the force said: “A man has been charged in connection with the events which led to the evacuation of the Utilita Arena in Birmingham last night.“Omar Majed, 19, has been charged with false communications relating to a bomb hoax,” a police spokesperson said. “Majed, of Washwood Heath, Birmingham, has been remanded to appear before magistrates in Birmingham on 4 May
Royal Opera House calls for release of Georgian bass singer jailed over democracy protests
The Royal Opera House in London has urged Keir Starmer to intervene in the case of Paata Burchuladze, a world-renowned bass singer who has been imprisoned in Georgia since October on a charge of leading a coup against the country’s authoritarian leader.The 71-year-old has performed at the Royal Opera House and the Metropolitan Opera House in New York and collaborated with the likes of Luciano Pavarotti, Plácido Domingo and José Carreras. He was arrested after joining a protest outside the presidential palace in the Georgian capital, Tbilisi. Last week he was given a seven-year jail sentence which Burchuladze suggested to the court was equivalent to a life sentence given his age.Burchuladze became a rallying figure at nightly demonstrations against the government’s perceived pivot away from the west last autumn
How to make arancini – recipe | Felicity Cloake's Masterclass
Navel gazing: oranges, mandarins and persimmons top Australia’s best-value fruit and veg for May
Australian supermarket sauerkraut taste test: one is ‘like eating the smell of McDonald’s pickle’
Spring soup and bean and cheese quesadillas: Thomasina Miers’ Mexican-inspired seasonal recipes
Willy’s, Margate, Kent: ‘It chortles in the face of small plates’ – restaurant review | Grace Dent on restaurants
Why sweet, chewy dates go perfectly with chocolate – and the best ones to try