Tabletop Trends Viewpoint: What the Election Means for the LET Sector
On the 4th July the UK took to the polls and elected Sir Kier Starmer, leader of the Labour Party, as its next prime minister. After 14 years in opposition the new Labour government finds itself with a huge majority in the House of Commons which should help to get its plans and legislation passed. But there are significant issues to be dealt with including a stuttering economy, pressure to tackle migration, a faltering health service and an increasingly urgent need to tackle climate change.
As the new Labour government starts to get to grips with of the issues facing it, we spoke to Neil Richards, managing director of Metcalfe Catering, Steve Kirkby, sales director for the UK and Middle East at Tablecraft, Paula Sherlock, managing director of Signature and chair of the FEA’s LET Group, and John Cunningham, chief executive of FEA, to take stock of the industry and find out what actions they hope to see help the sector.
All agree that the current business environment is challenging. LET companies are a bellwether for the overall health of the hospitality sector. “We’ve seen an amount of caution regarding investment in LET,” says Steve. “Companies aren’t necessarily looking to make big changes to their styles of presentation but are still looking for changes in certain areas.”
“The market is relatively stable, but changes very quickly,” says Neil. “We saw some slowdown before the election with many companies taking a wait and see approach.”
Paula sees the current situation as an indicator of the industry’s resilience. “It’s a challenging market – margins are tight, competition is strong but most established businesses are doing fine.”
The new government is focussing on ways to grow the economy. Neil thinks they should be focussing on helping hospitality in general as if it does well it has knock-on effects throughout the supply chain. “We’ve seen many businesses closing recently, and banks are wary about lending, what with increases in costs, rates and taxes.”
Steve thinks they should focus on reducing interest rates to give people more money in their pockets. “Costs are increasing faster than wages, which is stopping people spending on nights out.”
John identifies four areas where the government can help the LET sector. These are; lowering business rates, managing and capping energy prices, providing support to businesses moving towards Net Zero, and implementing a national industrial strategy. “Before the election Labour were keen to understand the issues business is facing,” he says, “They’ve been relatively quiet about hospitality, and we’re eager to find out more about their strategy considering its importance to the UK economy.”
The UK’s relationship with Europe stays important for UK LET firms. While the fundamentals are largely the same Neil highlights increased documentation as a big issue. “As it stands the main winners are the companies handling extra admin generated by being outside the EU,” he says. “There’s no guarantee they’re even fully compliant – a central system administered by the government would remove this ambiguity and extra cost.”
Steve doesn’t see the UK rejoining the EU. “It would require changes that we don’t envisage happening,” he says.
Paula sees promise in Labour’s seeming willingness for a more co-operative relationship with Europe. “There’s no going back on Brexit, but ensuring the smooth flow of imports and exports and protection against trade disputes would be good news for LET,” she says.
The drive for sustainability is increasingly important to the LET sector. “We regularly work with customers to reduce food waste,” says Neil. “LET has a massive part to play in increasing sustainability, through standardisation and reducing waste.”
Steve sees opportunities in the industry’s current cautiousness regarding large investments. “Bringing in new working methods supported by new LET can have significant effects on operations at lower costs,” he says. “It’s important to explain the benefits of this kind of investment.”
“If the governments can incentivise change, the LET sector will see the market for products with improved green credentials grow,” says John.
“I hope the government takes the hospitality industry’s contribution to the economy seriously,” says Neil. “With the right help it could be even more successful. Proper investment will help not just the LET sector, but everything else too.”
Paula feels the LET sector is poised to take advantage of future growth. “There are hopes that the economy improves during 2025,” she says. “The LET sector has survived the turmoil of the last few years. As long as the values that got us through these times – quality, service, relationships and value for money - remain the same, LET will be in a great position to take advantage of the good times when they return. And they will!”
This article is part of Tabletop Trends - FEA's quarterly light equipment and tableware sector newsletter.
Tabletop Trends is produced and distributed by the Foodservice Equipment Association, the UK's largest independent foodservice equipment trade association. All suppliers listed in this article are FEA members. A full list of Light Equipment and Table suppliers can be found on our Meet Our Members section - simply select Light Equipment / Food Prep from the Product Type drop down menu
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