{"id":688579,"date":"2026-01-11T09:07:19","date_gmt":"2026-01-11T09:07:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/688579\/"},"modified":"2026-01-11T09:07:19","modified_gmt":"2026-01-11T09:07:19","slug":"empty-streets-and-dead-towns-warning-as-north-wales-hotels-feel-pinch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/688579\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Empty streets and dead towns’ warning as North Wales hotels feel pinch"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hospitality businesses across the region complain they have been ‘completely screwed’\"A<\/p>\n

A herring gull looks down on Llandudno promenade and its parade of popular hotels(Image: Andrew Forgrave\/North Wales Live)<\/p>\n

A leading hotelier claims the hospitality industry is being \u201cset up to fail\u201d by government policies. With business rates set to soar, Steven Hesketh detailed the extraordinary pressures facing his two properties in Wrexham<\/a>. He fears the upshot will be \u201cempty streets and dead towns\u201d.<\/p>\n

His concerns reflect wider industry alarm over dramatic rises in rateable values combined with rising energy and staffing costs. Hoteliers in Llandudno have warned of staff redundancies may become unavoidable.<\/p>\n

As managing director of Chester-based Savvy Hotel Group, Mr Hesketh jointly operates Hotel Wrexham, which launched in June 2024 following the acquisition of Holt Lodge Hotel. Shortly afterwards, he received planning consent for a \u00a31.3m apart-hotel in the city\u2019s former registry office. He also has a hotel in Chester.<\/p>\n

Outlining his concerns, he claimed hospitality businesses were being \u201ccompletely screwed\u201d by Westminster and Cardiff. \u201cThe anger is so intense it\u2019s hard to even put into words,” he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI worked out recently that with regards to business rate changes, from April 2026 the rateable value of our hotel in Wrexham it will jump from \u00a387,000 to \u00a3171,000. That\u2019s basically double.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo, let\u2019s think this through, \u00a380 per night, then you have to take away 20% for VAT, then there is 20% commission to Booking.com. Another 10% has to go on business rates – so we are at less than \u00a340 before we cover the increases in utilities bills, which are averaging circa 10%. Join the North Wales Live Whatsapp community now<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cThen of course you need to factor wages for people like the cleaners, the maintenance man, the night porter, who is there for your health and safety, the receptionist to check you in, the management to keep the hotel top notch. That\u2019s before we have anyone on standby to possibly offer you breakfast like a chef and a waitress.”<\/p>\n

\"Hotel<\/p>\n

Hotel Wrexham on the A534 between Holt and Wrexham(Image: Google)<\/p>\n

Mr Hesketh continued: \u201cOf course, there are other items such as linen, toilet roll, toiletries, tea and coffee-making facilities. Then there\u2019s wear and tear\/replacement of the goods in the room over time, perhaps a uniform etc.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf there was \u00a31 or so left at the end of all of this, the government will come and take a further 25p for Corporation Tax for good measure.\u201d<\/p>\n

Similar concerns have been expressed by hospitality businesses in Llandudno<\/a> facing significant increases in business rates bills. Pubs, restaurants and cafes are also affected – and many of them expect to struggle to remain profitable as costs keep rising.<\/p>\n

Aberconwy MS Janet Finch-Saunders said the industry has grappled with sharp increases in food and drink prices, higher utility costs and rises in the living wage. With business rates due to shoot up in April, she said businesses were feeling \u201cfrustrated and let down\u201d.<\/p>\n

According to UK Hospitality Cymru, Wales has the UK\u2019s highest business rates in the UK, the result of rateable values increasing by 26%, adding an extra \u00a3131m in costs.<\/p>\n

Calling for reduced business rates for small firms, Ms Finch-Saunders said: \u201cLlandudno has one of the highest concentrations of hotels in Wales and the sector employs a substantial number of local people.<\/p>\n

\u201cIndustry leaders have made it clear that if costs continue to rise, staff redundancies may become unavoidable, placing further strain on public finances.<\/p>\n

\u201cLlandudno thrives off tourism<\/a>, and if closures or redundancies occur, the impact on the local economy and tourism sector would be significant.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Steven<\/p>\n

Steven Hesketh, MD of the Savvy Hotel Group which runs Hotel Wrexham and The Old Registry apart-hotel(Image: )<\/p>\n

Mr Hesketh, who also runs the Hospitality Hero platform, claimed the new rateable values were based on false premises as they\u2019re drawn from rental snapshots from April 2024. \u201cThat is laughable,\u201d he said. \u201cIt pretends the world stands still and that a made\u2011up rent reflects your ability to pay.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt ignores reality, cashflow, payroll, debt, and the fact that hospitality is one of the most people\u2011heavy, service\u2011heavy, margin\u2011tight industries out there.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt feels like a number has been pulled out of nowhere just to take more money, and us entrepreneurs are paying for the privilege.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery single part of running a hospitality business is now more expensive, more fragile and more stressful than it was a few years ago. Sign up for the North Wales Live newsletter<\/a> sent twice daily to your inbox<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cIf enough of us go under, it won\u2019t just be a few failed businesses, it\u2019ll be empty streets, dead towns and a government wondering where all that business rate money went when there\u2019s nobody left to bleed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Welsh Government position<\/p>\n

Since the pandemic, the Welsh Government has spent more than \u00a31bn on temporary rates relief for hospitality, leisure and retail sectors. Already it provides \u00a3250m each year in permanent business rates relief. It noted that while the new revaluations will cause some bills to rise, other businesses will see them fall.<\/p>\n

Last month Cardiff announced an extra \u00a3116m of support for businesses affected by their revaluations. Where bills increases by more than \u00a3300, the rise will be phased in over two years. For the first time since 2010, the multiplier will also be reduced for all ratepayers. However the hospitality and leisure sector were excluded from these reforms.<\/p>\n

Mark Drakeford, Cabinet Secretary for finance, said small and medium-sized retail shops will benefit from a new lower rate, cutting their bills by around \u00a320m.<\/p>\n

He added: “We know businesses have faced significant economic challenges in recent years. This support package will help them manage the transition to updated rates bills while we deliver on our commitment to a fairer rates system.<\/p>\n

“By introducing more frequent revaluations and a lower rate for small shops, we’re making sure the business rates system reflects today’s economy and supports the businesses that are the backbone of our high streets and communities.”<\/p>\n

See what’s on in your area<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Hospitality businesses across the region complain they have been ‘completely screwed’ A herring gull looks down on Llandudno…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":688580,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5010],"tags":[748,16709,4884,208029,43157,5006,16,15,1764,18833],"class_list":{"0":"post-688579","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wales","8":"tag-britain","9":"tag-conwy","10":"tag-great-britain","11":"tag-hotels-in-north-wales","12":"tag-llandudno","13":"tag-tourism","14":"tag-uk","15":"tag-united-kingdom","16":"tag-wales","17":"tag-wrexham"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115875679233362124","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/688579","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=688579"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/688579\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/688580"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=688579"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=688579"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=688579"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}