The UK Weddings Taskforce has announced a merger with UKHospitality to continue their work in a way that can offer more structure, recognition, consistency and a platform to amplify issues facing the industry.
The Taskforce was formed during the COVID-19 pandemic to ensure that all businesses were supported and represented at government level in a fair and democratic way, regardless of their size or influence.
UKHospitality formed in 2018 and is the broadest representative body for hospitality businesses in England, Scotland and Wales. Their membership includes hotels, restaurants, bars, coffee shops, pubs, contract caterers, hotels, wedding venues, nightclubs, visitor attractions and self-catered accommodation as well as businesses who supply products and services to hospitality venues and businesses.
The Chairperson of the UK Weddings Taskforce, Chris Naylor, comments:
“I’m so pleased that we have been able to partner with UKHospitality in this way, and effectively continue the work the UK Weddings Taskforce has been doing as part of a bigger group. We encourage all wedding businesses to join UKHospitality and take advantage of the support and representation. I want to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has played their part in helping support our amazingly diverse industry. We truly do have brilliantly talented people and it is no wonder the UK wedding industry is world leading.”
UKHospitality aims to:
PROMOTE - We promote the sector, so we are noticed and treated fairly
PROTECT - We provide advice to protect commercial interests
PREVENT - We lobby to prevent restrictive legislation or taxation
PIONEER - We pioneer solutions to deliver a sustainable sector
These aims align closely with the values of the UK Weddings Taskforce.
The Taskforce has spent the last 5 months in conversation with UKH to create a sector within the organisation to cater for the wedding industry, covering topics such as sustainability, workforce development and staffing, supply chain, licensing, business rates and VAT. Unlike the UK Weddings Taskforce that was run entirely by elected volunteers, UKH have paid full-time staff and an established structure which means they have the time and ability to raise issues consistently that affect the industry.
The conversation between the Taskforce and UKH covers 3 main areas:
1) Membership costs
2) Weddings All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG)
3) Government lead councils
1) Membership
The Taskforce will encourage all parts of the industry to join their UKH membership, allowing them to have a direct voice. Members would also have access to a range of benefits including Legal, HR and Food Safety helplines, events and webinars as well as dedicated support and advice from their team.
Wedding venues and suppliers already constitute a valued part of UKHospitality membership but further news on dedicated rates for those in the industry will be shared shortly. More information about UKHospitality and its work is available on its website, and anyone interested in membership can email membership@ukhospitality.org.uk.
2) Weddings APPG
The Secretariat of the Weddings APPG will be run by UKH who already run several APPGs. The wedding industry will continue to feed in content and ideas for future meetings and help to shape the focus of the group, however, UKH will take care of the admin to ensure that the secretariat is as inclusive of the whole industry as possible and allow for varied and unbiased discussion.
This change would also have the benefit of the wedding sector being able to contribute to other APPGs that UKH runs including APPGs for Hospitality and Tourism.
3) Government lead councils
The CEO of UKHospitality, Kate Nicholls OBE, currently sits on three councils, the Tourism Industry Council, the Hospitality Sector Council and the Food and Drink Sector Council. UKH have welcomed a request that a representative from the wedding industry sits on the UK Hospitality advisory council which feeds into these.
Kate Nicholls OBE said:
“It’s fantastic to be able to welcome the UK Weddings Taskforce into UKHospitality and continue the sterling work they have done representing the industry throughout the pandemic. I know how tough wedding businesses have had it throughout the past two years and now, like the wider hospitality sector, their recovery is being impacted by rising costs, workforce challenges and business rates, to name a few. I’m committed to ensuring weddings have a strong voice as part of our work championing hospitality at the highest levels of Government and I’m looking forward to working together.”
The Goal
The hope is that merging the Taskforce knowledge into UKHospitality is an ideal progression to enable the work started by the Taskforce; to continue and ensure we do not lose the history, relationships and leverage built up within the wedding sector over the last two years.