£10 Million Hospitality Grant Scheme launches in boost for independent pubs, restaurants and cafes
Village pubs, family-run restaurants, and cafés receive a boost as a new £10 million three-year Hospitality Grant Scheme has launched for applications.
- Boost for local pubs, restaurants and cafes as £10 million Hospitality Grant Scheme launches for applications
- Funding aims to back entrepreneurs starting new businesses, support training schemes giving young people their first jobs, and help trusted community venues to adapt and grow
- Over £3 million earmarked for non-profit Pub is The Hub
Village pubs, family-run restaurants, and neighbourhood cafés received a boost today as a new £10 million three-year Hospitality Grant Scheme has launched for applications.
Money will be invested into projects that help get new hospitality ventures off the ground, bring vacant premises back into use, or support training programmes that help people develop the skills, confidence and work ethic to open doors to future careers.
For example, non-profit The Right Course used pilot funding to help transform two prison staff restaurants and kitchens into a hospitality training facility, providing inmates with valuable experience in a realistic, high-street-style working environment.
The Hospitality Sector Council and innovation lab specialist L Marks brought together hospitality businesses and leading tech companies to find new ways to boost productivity in the industry, leading to hours of work being saved & reduced costs.
Minister for the Future of Work, Kate Dearden said:
Hospitality venues are where communities come together and where many people get their first experience of work. They create jobs and help our towns and neighbourhoods to thrive.
This funding will back local businesses to grow, boost opportunities for people across the UK and support growth in every part of the country.”
This move recognises the vital role hospitality plays in supporting local economies and communities across the UK. This includes providing many people with their first jobs, helping them develop key skills to build successful careers within and outside the industry.
£3m of the grant funding has been specifically earmarked to support Pub is The Hub – an independent non-profit organisation helping pubs in rural and deprived areas to diversify their services and activities. This includes adding village stores, community cafes, play areas and arts and crafts activities, enabling pubs to expand their role as vital local hubs.
The grant scheme comes as part of the Government’s commitment to deliver economic growth in every postcode and ensure communities across the country can share in that success.
It follows on from the announcement that pubs, clubs and live music venues are set to receive a 20% cut to their business rates bills from April, saving the typical pub an estimated £1,000 next year.
Jane O’Riordan, Co-Chair of the Hospitality Sector Council, said:
We welcome the launch of this grant scheme, which builds on a successful pilot and demonstrates what can be achieved when government and industry work together. The flexible funding will help support innovative projects that boost productivity and sustainability, create opportunities for young people and those furthest from the labour market, and deliver the shared priorities of the Hospitality Sector Council and the wider sector.
Pub is The Hub Chief Executive, John Longden OBE said,
Access to this new support from the Hospitality Grant Scheme is warmly welcomed as it will help inspire local publicans to diversify to create much needed local services and activities in their rural, remote or deprived areas.
BIST, together with the Treasury, has recognised the vital role that publicans and pubs play as essential small local businesses, that make positive contributions to local communities. The scheme will also encourage the leveraging of other match private and public funding to support these small businesses.
This funding will help give long-term certainty to publicans to create new services and activities in their pubs which will deliver a wider social value and create a foundation for well-being in their local areas.
Pub is The Hub has been very thankful of the support and donations from within the pub and hospitality industry over the past 25 years and looks forward to working in collaboration with the BIST and the sector moving forward.”
Notes to Editors
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Guidance is available now, with applications being received from the end of September: see here
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The grant scheme builds on a successful pilot that helped deliver over 70 rural pub projects, two hospitality training facilities in UK prisons, and an innovation hub.