‘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,
‘Hold the line’: Burnham tells allies in parliament he still has options to return
Andy Burnham has told Labour MPs they should hold the line and that he has options to return to parliament after several seats identified by his allies failed to materialise.Two seats that backers of the Greater Manchester mayor had described as “nailed on” as recently as Monday night are now out of contention after the MPs concerned got cold feet.Burnham spoke to a number of MPs by phone on Tuesday and assured them that he still intended to seek an imminent return to parliament.The Guardian was told by two MPs on Wednesday that Jeff Smith, who represents Manchester Withington, an affluent suburb of the city, was in talks about stepping aside for Burnham, but his friends denied it. Asked whether he was about to make way, Smith told the Press Association he was not
‘It’s more incrementalism’: Starmer’s safe king’s speech fails to quell mutiny
For Keir Starmer’s Labour critics, his second king’s speech, in which the government set out what it would do in parliament over the next 12 to 18 months, was a crystallisation of everything that was wrong with the prime minister’s strategy.Over 34 bills and three draft ones, Starmer set out a programme he said would “make this country stronger and fairer”. But the package, which included limiting trial by jury, reshaping the NHS and moving the country closer to the EU, fell short of what some in the prime minister’s party feel is needed to win back voters’ trust.“Most of this is incrementalism,” said one Labour MP. “This sums up where we have gone wrong in the first two years in government
Starmer has ‘full confidence’ in Streeting despite health secretary’s allies saying he is planning to resign – as it happened
Downing Street has now confirmed that Wes Streeting is still health secretary. The PM’s spokesperson told reporters the prime minister has “full confidence” in the health secretary.Allies of Wes Streeting have said he is preparing to stand down as health secretary amid deep frustration with Keir Starmer’s leadership, and could mount a formal challenge for the leadership as early as Thursday.Keir Starmer has put long-promised changes to education, health and the courts at the heart of his agenda for the next year, as the embattled prime minister looks to prove he can enact the scale of change being demanded by Labour MPs and voters. There were 37 bills in the speech
Labour politicians should put the country before their party | Letters
As an active and loyal Labour member, I am infuriated by what is happening within the party (Burnham allies warn against quick ‘coronation’ of Streeting if Starmer quits, 12 May). The ongoing circus about the leadership is a terrible distraction from the numerous global and national issues that the government and the prime minister should be focused on. But the most infuriating aspect of the entire shambles is the relentless speculation and briefings from so-called “allies” of Andy Burham.No Labour member has an innate right to be selected as a parliamentary candidate. The assertion that a sitting Labour MP should give up the seat voters elected them to, necessitating a byelection so that Burnham can run, then assuming that he would automatically retain the seat, is arrogance beyond belief
Labour lost the vote of small business owners like me | Letter
Your report (Reform wins across northern England overturn decades of Labour control, 8 May) touched on Labour losing support among small business owners. I wanted to offer the perspective of a small independent business owner who has traditionally supported Labour.Labour’s poor local election results may reflect a growing frustration among small business owners who no longer feel recognised as “working people”. In hospitality, hair and beauty, retail and trades, there are thousands upon thousands of us keeping local economies alive while taking home increasingly modest incomes ourselves.Last year, our small independent restaurant in Margate turned over roughly £350,000
King’s speech might be the last word on Starmer as reluctant monarch does his duty | John Crace
The king looked fed up. His attempts to throw a sickie had come to nothing. Did the government really want to go ahead with the state opening? Apparently it did. Would it be OK if he phoned it in? He fancied a day working from palace. It wouldn’t be OK
Court rules Coles misled shoppers with its ‘Down Down’ discount campaign
Housing market in England and Wales weakening due to Iran war, say estate agents
Datacentres using 6% of electricity supply in UK and US, research says
Nvidia’s Jensen Huang joins other US bosses on Trump trip to China
Ivan Cleary begins long goodbye with a legacy built to last long after he leaves Panthers | Nick Tedeschi
Sarah Taylor named England men’s fielding coach while Gay, Rew and Baker are called up