Hands Off Our Pubs: Forest of Dean Hosts Pub and Hospitality Summit as Pressure Mounts and Closures Accelerate. Speech House, Forest of Dean, Wednesday 18 February
Born in the Forest of Dean, HOOP – Hands Off Our Pubs – has grown in less than a month from zero to representing more than 500 hospitality businesses nationwide, with active social media and WhatsApp networks offering real-time support to pub and hospitality owners under intense financial pressure.
Now HOOP is bringing that momentum together for a pivotal HOOP Hospitality Summit taking place on Wednesday, 18 February at Speech House, Forest of Dean.
The summit marks a turning point for the fast-growing movement, which has already taken its fight for fairness in hospitality directly to Westminster. HOOP is engaged with MPs across all parties, trade associations, local and regional councils, and leading UK business groups who are listening to the lived reality behind the headlines.
At the heart of the discussion is a growing disconnect between government policy and how hospitality actually operates on the ground – particularly in rural and market-town Britain, where pubs are often the last remaining community infrastructure.
Mark Terry-Lush, co-founder of HOOP, said: “Most consumers have no idea how many new costs are being piled onto hospitality. Business rates, an alcohol duty hike, higher employment and environmental taxes, rising energy bills and food inflation are all landing at once – forcing prices up while margins collapse.
“At the same time, supermarkets continue to sell alcohol at wafer-thin margins that pubs cannot legally or commercially match. Community pubs cannot absorb this imbalance. They either pass on costs and lose customers, or close. That is the reality.”
The Speech House summit will bring together operators and national voices to address these challenges head-on and agree on next steps.
Speakers include
Tony Sophoclides, Strategic Affairs Director at UKHospitality, brings the national policy view on hospitality. Representing pubs, restaurants, hotels, leisure and the night-time economy, he will set out the data, the policy reality, and what must change now to protect viable hospitality businesses.
Julie Kent MBE, High Sheriff of Gloucestershire, is a respected community leader and campaigner known for standing up for fairness and seeing difficult fights through. She joins HOOP to share insight on leadership under pressure, resilience in the face of setbacks, and why collective action matters when businesses are being tested by forces beyond their control.
At the HOOP Hospitality Summit, hear directly from national and civic leaders, and help shape the next phase of HOOP’s coordinated push for fairer treatment of pubs and hospitality businesses.
Attendance is limited and pre-registration is required
Businesses can secure a place via Eventbrite.
Event details
Date: Wednesday 18 February, 0830 registration for 0900 start
Location: Speech House, Speech House Road, Coleford GL16 7EL
Who should attend: Pub owners, landlords, hospitality operators, suppliers and rural business leaders
About HOOP
Hands Off Our Pubs
HOOP – Hands Off Our Pubs – is a pressure group supporting and protecting our rural pubs and hospitality businesses, and the communities they serve.
We lead with pubs because they are the beating heart of communities, but HOOP stands for the entire hospitality ecosystem – pubs, cafés, restaurants, bars, hotels, tourism businesses and the supply chains that depend on them.
Hospitality businesses are under sustained pressure from business rates detached from trading reality, 20% VAT compared with 9-13% across Europe, supermarket inequality, rising alcohol duty, minimum wage and National Insurance costs, and persistently high energy, food and supply prices – all while being taxed on revenue rather than profit.
HOOP exists to share verified facts, unite the sector with one clear voice, and coordinate constructive, evidence-based action. We engage councils, MPs and decision-makers to stand up for local businesses, local jobs and local communities.
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Want to save our pubs?
Get out there and buy a pint or book a meal. Vote with your wallets and purses.
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