Pizza restaurant closes due to rising costs

A well-known Birmingham pizza restaurant has shut its doors after eight years, with its owner saying it became unaffordable to run.

Lee Desanges runs a number of hospitality businesses, including Baked in Brick in Digbeth, which ceased trading on Sunday.

Desanges has called on the government to offer restaurants tax cuts, after Prime Minister Andy Burnham announced a 20% cut in business rates for pubs, clubs and live music venues from April 2027.

Burnham said these plans to cut rates was a "first step" to help businesses, and the government said addressing business costs was as important as tackling the cost of living.

"Over the last eight years in hospitality things have changed massively - the way people are dining; the way people are coming out; how much money they're willing to spend as well," said Desanges.

"At the moment, it's super challenging to make any money in hospitality.

"We have so many people come through the doors, we take a lot of money - but after I've paid my wages, PAYE, VAT, tax, corporation tax, holiday pay, there's very little left."

The restaurant owner said the cost of food was also a big pressure.

"All the food's gone up, my pizza flour, my San Marzano tomatoes... every cost has gone up."

"There's only so much I can charge for a pizza and at the moment that's not enough."

He called for new business rates for restaurants, who, alongside pubs, missed out on the recent announcement.

In July, when pushed on why hotels, restaurants and cafes were not included, Emma Reynolds, chief secretary to the Treasury, said "further reforms" would be looked at "in the lead up to the Budget".

"We know other businesses are facing pressure as well," she added.

The PM previously said pubs in particular "need to know that the cavalry is coming".

In response to Burnham's new policies announced in his first week, which included the business rates cuts as well as capping bus fares, Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said his ambitions for Britain were "too small".

Desanges added: "We don't just need a cut in business rates, we need a cut in VAT. It is absolutely choking hospitality at the moment.

"I have had to let quite a few members of staff go. Without this help, more and more restaurants are going to be closing very very soon."

On a possible VAT cut, Reynolds said the government keeps "all taxes under review", but that declined to make any announcements.

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