Pier owners in Cromer, Bournemouth, Skegness and Clacton have warned the government’s decision to increase the national minimum wage and NICs will generate hundreds of thousands of pounds of additional costs for their businesses, urging MPs to “get more in tune with the industry.” And it’s a call that has been taken up by the national media with one, GB News, piling into the Treasury with the headline: “‘Reeves is clueless! Britain’s historic seaside piers under attack as ‘inhumane’ Budget costing owners £180k.”
The owners of Cromer, Bournemouth, Skegness and Clacton Piers have spoken out against the “inhumane” economic measures included in the Autumn Budget, stating that the increase to the minimum wage and NICs will push their businesses to the brink.
Speaking to the Daily Express, Cromer and Bournemouth Pier owner Rory Holburn said the two attractions are facing an additional bill of £180,000 come April, prompting cuts to staff numbers, price rises and a reduction of opening hours.
“We hope that we can survive it,” said Holburn. “Maybe 20 percent of hospitality businesses are going to go under in the next two years… we just need to make sure we’re not in that 20 percent.”
“Inhumane, I would call it, because it is ignorant of the people that do the graft at the bottom end. It’s all very well to sit in a city thinking that money just happens in banks and happens in big spreadsheets, but the people [here] are cleaning tables and getting their first job.”
Speaking on behalf of Skegness Pier, Mellors Group MD James Mellors agreed, adding: “I’ve never known a year where so many people in the sector are so scared.”
Salary costs at the Skegness landmark are set to jump by £100,000, however Mellors is determined not to pass the increase to the two million customers that visit every year.
“It’s not an affluent area,” said Mellors. “We’re a free to enter park, a free to enter pier. They don’t necessarily have a huge disposable income.”
“We don’t want to charge people to come in. The idea of Skegness is people come up here, they can enjoy the area and spend as little or as much as they want.”
In Clacton, pier director Billy Ball put the impact of the Budget on the business at £300,000 a year, with he and his brother deciding to halt investment in attractions and entertainment for the first time in 16 years.
“In the seaside amusement industry, we’ve been pioneering in a lot of ways and, for us, to be standing here for the first time and say we’re going to go in reverse, contract and hunker down is almost unheard of for us as a business.”
“They [the Government] need to get more in tune with the industry and understand the impact of their decisions.”
