On the morning after, we look at some of the effects the Budget could have in Dorset.
HELP FOR HOSPITALITY AND RETAIL Dorset’s hospitality industry got some of the key concessions it asked for from the chancellor. The reduced five per cent VAT rate for hospitality and tourism will stay in place util September 30 and will then go up to 12.5 per cent before reaching its original 20 per cent next April. Alcohol duty will also stay as it is. For Andy Lennox, founder of the Wonky Table group that grew up to represent Dorset bars, restaurants and events companies in lockdown, that was the key concession. “We’re standing here with shattered balance sheets, heavily in debt, with little to no cash reserves,” he said.