Tax raid has made running my business ‘a f---ing struggle'

Telegraph

21-04-2025

Scott Collins has just spent £1.2m on a brand new underground bar in Covent Garden. Named Bloodsports, 30 flat-screen TVs adorn its walls, playing a combination of live sports and classic 1980s horror movies, while beers and bar snacks are served late into the night.
It is the kind of bar many could only dream of opening. So why is Collins, the co-founder of burger chain Meatliquor and one-time star of BBC Two's Million Pound Menu, so downbeat?
Running bars and restaurants, he says, just isn't fun any more. Rather, it has become 'a f---ing struggle'.
Collins signed the lease on Bloodsports last September. One month later, the Chancellor announced a swathe of tax rises on employers that kicked in earlier this month, heaping pressure on already-stretched hospitality firms.
'Had I known what the current financial climate was going to be like now, and the lack of consumer confidence, I wouldn't have bought this place,' says Collins.
'It was quite a tricky deal. It took a lot longer than expected, and since then the f------ world's got worse, which no one was expecting. So if I could turn back the clock, I wouldn't have done it.
'I can't see us making any money in the next financial year, and that's with opening a brand new site, so the coffers are empty.'
Of greatest concern to Collins is the rise in employers' National Insurance (NI) contributions and the lowering of the threshold at which contributions are due, from £9,100 to £5,000.
This, alongside a 6.7pc increase in the minimum wage, disproportionately hurts hospitality businesses because of the number of lower paid and part-time workers in the sector.
'We did our calculations in November, and just the National Insurance rise and the Living Wage rise – which then affects everyone being paid more that, because you can't not give everyone else a raise – we needed to find, as of April 1, an extra £300,000 per year,' says Collins.
'Things have got progressively worse'
That is easier said than done when consumers are cutting back on dining out after years of inflation and uncertainty. Restaurant sales fell by 0.6pc in February, according to data firm CGA, while hospitality sales within the M25 fell further, slumping 1.2pc year-on-year.
'Lunch has just fallen off a cliff, and you're now up against everyone discounting, especially the groups that have private equity backing.'
Collins is also facing pressure from suppliers who are attempting to pass the impact of the tax rises down the supply chain. 'Our big food supplier has just tried to pass on the 5pc uplift ... Everyone's trying to pass it on someone else. It's a never-ending story.'
Ultimately, 'it would be a lot easier to just shut up shop,' he says. 'But we employ 220 people. We're not going to let them go.'
Collins is the latest in a long line of boss to sound the alarm over the impact of October's Budget. Many have said they will have to cancel or pause investments and cut jobs as a result.
In a move seemingly designed to placate them, ministers have promised to slash red tape and consult with hospitality bosses on ways to boost the sector.
Sir Sadiq Khan, the Mayor of London, will also be handed fresh powers to 'call in' blocked planning applications. Collins says this is all 'welcomed in theory, but it needs to be more than just a press release'.
He does not say whether he backed Labour in last year's election, offering only a 'no comment'. Things were not easy under previous governments either, going as far back as the smoking ban in 2007, he says.
'Things have just got progressively worse. It's just laughable. There's no way I would be in this industry now if I'd had that all that laid in front of me 22 years ago when opening my first place, I don't think I could have done it.'
'One-stop fun shop'
A 30-year veteran of the hospitality industry, Collins ran pubs before launching Meatliquor as a pop-up kitchen in south London in 2011 with co-founder Yianni Papoutsis. Since then it has grown into a 10-site chain that is credited with helping drive a renaissance in British burgers.
'The first Meatliquor was pretty bonkers,' he says. 'We had two-hour queues almost every night the week for about two years, and at the time, that was my biggest problem in life – how to manage the queues.'
Meatliquor has endured while rival chains like Byron have been forced into restructuring and closures. Collins says this is because, unlike rivals, he never took private equity cash. These owners often load up their investments with debt to fund rapid expansion. However, high borrowing costs in the wake of the pandemic have hamstrung many of these businesses.
'A lot of people that have taken venture capital or private equity money are regretting that decision because they're just getting ground into the ground,' says Collins. 'We're fortunate. We've got very little debt.'
Meatliquor is backed by a handful of investors, including David Page, the founder of Franco Manca and former boss of Pizza Express, without whose advice Collins says he would have 'probably thrown in the towel a long time ago'.
Bloodsports, Collins' latest outing, is based on the dive bars found in the US. It serves Meatliquor's burgers, hot dogs and bar snacks such as deep fried mac and cheese, onion rings and chicken wings.
Collins calls it 'a bit of a one-stop fun shop'. 'We get the theatregoers, the theatre workers, the performers. The ballerinas from the Royal Opera House are in here quite regularly.'
But even getting the doors open at Bloodsports has been a battle. 'Just as we were about to sign [the lease], squatters moved in. The vendor was in Bali ... They came in like Die Hard. Police couldn't or wouldn't do anything. They were paid £15,000 cash to leave.'
Problems persist: it has been burgled twice since opening in February. 'The first one was just an iPad, but did a bit of damage. The second one, they took a lot of booze.'
Despite all of this, Collins remains a believer in the importance of pubs, bars and restaurants as part of the social fabric of the UK. 'We're a key pillar of the economy. We support jobs, communities, recovery,' he says.
'Hospitality brings people together. It's full of passion and potential. The red tape needs to be cut, the tax load needs to be eased, and then we can just do what we do best.'