Petition Handed In at Number 10
The #VATsTheProblem campaign submitted its petition to 10 Downing Street on 14 October 2026. The submission carries 401,250 names behind the call for 10% VAT for hospitality.
Chef Tom Kerridge led the delivery, two weeks before the Budget. He runs the Hand and Flowers in Marlow, which holds two Michelin stars.
The Tally
401,250 people had backed the call when the petition was handed in. The figure is the campaign’s own running count of signatures.
The Caterer reported 401,250 at 11:24 that morning. The Morning Advertiser, updating at 14:40 the same day, put the count at 403,167 and placed the 400,000 mark earlier that week. Both figures come from one live petition read at different hours.
The campaign opened in June with UKHospitality, the British Beer and Pub Association and the British Institute of Innkeeping behind it.
Kerridge: A VAT Cut Delivers That
Kerridge said the support from the public and from hospitality had been “enormous”, and that delivering the petition before the Budget had mattered.
“More than 400,000 people have backed 10% hospitality VAT because they know that their pubs, restaurants, cafes, bars and hotels on the high street need this,” he said.
“We all want to turn closures into openings, lost jobs into new jobs and shuttered shops into thriving high streets. A VAT cut for hospitality delivers that.”
“The petition so far has been delivered to Downing Street but our campaign for a lower rate of hospitality VAT continues,” he said.
Who Went to the Door
Kerridge delivered the petition with Allen Simpson, chief executive of UKHospitality; Emma McClarkin, chief executive of the British Beer and Pub Association; and Steve Alton, chief executive of the British Institute of Innkeeping. Adam Hyman, founder of CODE Hospitality, appears in the campaign photographs.
The campaign lists UKHospitality, the British Beer and Pub Association, the British Institute of Innkeeping and CODE Hospitality as its supporting organisations.
Backing Beyond the Signature Count
The Morning Advertiser records backing from JD Wetherspoon boss Sir Tim Martin. It reports that the Scottish Government and the SNP backed the campaign in September, after pressure from more than 100 Scottish chefs and operators.
The same paper reports that the Northamptonshire pub group Greedy Gordons put staff in campaign-branded uniforms over the summer.
Two Weeks to the Budget
The Budget falls on Wednesday 28 October 2026. Hospitality VAT in the UK sits at 20%. The campaign asks for 10%, and cites France, Spain and Italy at 10% and Germany at 7%.
No rate change has been announced. The decision sits with the Treasury.
The campaign says it will keep working the weeks before the Budget. It asks operators to sign and share the petition and to draw on the campaign shop for in-venue material.