Boparan Restaurant Group owner – ‘focus on private equity risks food security’: Boparan Restaurant Group owner Ranjit Singh Boparan has accused the government of ignoring family businesses and putting the security of the UK food chain at risk. Boparan, whose family owns a number of high street restaurant brands – including Carluccio’s, Ed’s Easy Diner and Fishworks – through the Boparan Private Office, has claimed that family businesses have been “forgotten” by the government in favour of private equity and financial services. “To get the UK economy going you’ve got to use family businesses as the backbone of it, not the BlackRocks or the Vanguards,” he told The Times. The entrepreneur, who left school at 16 and worked as a butcher before founding his business with a small bank loan, employs 25,000 people in the UK across food manufacturing arm 2 Sisters and the family’s restaurant brands and other businesses. “I wish the government would listen a bit more,” said Boparan, who claimed his office had recently sought a meeting with Sir Keir Starmer or Rachel Reeves but had been rebuffed. Boparan also revealed that he plans to invest £1.75bn in robotics, artificial intelligence and new farms and factories to improve sustainability and welfare, but he warned that domestic investors risked being driven overseas. He argued that proposed changes to inheritance tax and in particular restrictions on business property relief on agricultural assets, were “horrific” for family businesses and a threat to food security as businesses think twice about investing. He said: “We have money to invest and we are investing in the UK, but when someone comes to me and says I want to build a factory in Poland, it’s hard not to think it would actually be more favourable. You start thinking differently, when really there’s so much more to do in the UK. Food security is the biggest issue this country is going to face if the government does not wake up.” He also called for a level playing field between family businesses and the private equity industry, which benefits from the favourable tax treatment of performance fees, known as carried interest. “If I was private equity I could save taxes or pay no taxes,” he claimed. A Treasury spokesperson said: “Domestic and international business together contribute to the growth, jobs and prosperity of the UK. That is why we have capped corporation tax at 25%, the lowest in the G7, secured major trade deals with the US, EU and India, and seen interest rates cut five times since the election to help businesses across Britain.”

 

Buzz Bingo CEO – ‘chancellor’s taxes could shut bingo halls’: Buzz Bingo chief executive Dominic Mansour has warned a tax raid by the government on gambling could force bingo clubs out of business. Bingo hall operators are increasingly fearful they will be caught up in a crackdown on the gambling sector in the Budget. Speculation is mounting that chancellor Rachel Reeves is plotting to target betting firms as she scrambles to raise funds to pay for her spending plans. Mansour warned this would hit investment and even lead to the closure of bingo halls – costing jobs and robbing communities of a vital hub. Writing for the Daily Mail, he said: “The real cost of higher taxes isn’t just financial. When a bingo club closes, not only does a local employer disappear, but the community loses an important hub that has a role in tackling loneliness. It offers older and more vulnerable people somewhere to belong. It’s one of the few genuinely intergenerational activities left, and in towns where many pubs, libraries and community centres have disappeared, that matters.”

 

JD Wetherspoon worker awarded £25,000 in a disability discrimination claim after being ‘persecuted’ for using staff discount: A JD Wetherspoon worker who is autistic has been awarded £25,000 in a disability discrimination claim after an employment tribunal heard he was harshly punished for using his staff discount to pay for a family meal. Brandon Halstead was subject to various disciplinary hearings after unknowingly breaching employee policy by using his 20% discount on a meal for seven people. The kitchen porter, who saved £19.17, was not aware the privilege could only be applied to a group of up to four. The tribunal heard that after being accused of gross misconduct, Halstead felt “persecuted” and suffered “significant stress and anxiety”, which ultimately led to him being signed off sick from work, reports The Telegraph. The judge said Halstead had not behaved dishonestly and the reaction to the breach by his employers was disproportionate. The tribunal, held in Bristol, was told in August 2023, Halstead went for a meal at one of the company’s pubs, accompanied by five family members. While at work later that month, Halstead was told his shift manager wanted to “investigate a potential violation of the employee discount policy”. Halstead confirmed he did not know there was a limit on the numbers for an employee discount, the panel heard. During the conversation, Halstead also said his mother had access to his Wetherspoons app to look at his rota timetables to help plan lifts to work. He was told this was a breach of the data security policy. During a second investigation, Halstead and his mother explained the effects of his autism and said someone would have needed to show him the relevant policies if they wanted him to read them or sit him down and go through them with him, the panel said. Halstead was subsequently sent a letter ordering him to attend a disciplinary hearing for gross misconduct. The allegations were of “dishonesty” in the course of duties, in his “abuse” of the employee discount policy and failure to comply with the company’s data protection and confidentiality policy. Halstead was signed off work with stress and in September, his mum raised a formal grievance on behalf of her son, claiming Wetherspoon failed to make reasonable adjustments for him in the disciplinary process. Halstead eventually returned to work after an “informal” meeting. The judge upheld the reasonable adjustment claim and said: “We understand [Wetherspoon] might want to suspend them while they were investigating, but in [Halstead’s] case, there was no evidence whatsoever of dishonesty. He admitted straight away to breaking the rules of the discount policy because he was unaware of the rules. A typical feature of autism is a strong desire to adhere to rules.”