Six hospitality venues a day
Six hospitality venues a day.
That’s the number quietly circulating as 2026 begins, pubs, restaurants and hotels potentially closing every single day if rising costs, business rates and operational pressures continue unchecked.
It’s a sobering stat. But for the people running kitchens, managing rotas and keeping the lights on, it isn’t abstract.
It’s personal.
Because closures don’t happen overnight. They happen after months, sometimes years, of pressure building behind the scenes.
And right now, that pressure is everywhere.
The Reality Behind the Headlines
When a venue closes, the headlines tend to focus on one thing: policy.
Business rates. Budget decisions. VAT discussions. Consultations. Promises of future support.
But inside the business, the story looks very different. But inside the business, the story looks very different.
Closures usually follow a familiar pattern:
- • Energy bills creeping up month by month.
- • Staffing stretched thinner each week.
- • Maintenance pushed back “just one more month”
- • Small issues tolerated because “it still works”
- • Margins with absolutely no wiggle room left
By the time the doors finally close, the decision often feels inevitable, even though it didn’t start that way.
Why 2026 Feels Different
Hospitality has always been tough. That’s nothing new.
What is new is the stacking of pressures.
As 2026 gets underway, many operators are facing:
- • Rising business rates
- • Persistently high labour costs
- • Cautious consumer spending
- • Ongoing recruitment challenges
- • Higher compliance expectations
None of these alone would necessarily be fatal. Together, they leave very little room for error.
There’s no single silver bullet causing closures. It’s death by a thousand cuts.
And when costs rise everywhere at once, operators naturally look for places to “hold steady”.
Where Pressure Quietly Builds
In tight years, decisions get delayed, not because they’re wrong, but because they feel unavoidable.
Equipment servicing gets pushed back.
Cleaning schedules get stretched.
Minor faults are accepted because “we’ll deal with it later”.
Until later arrives at the worst possible moment.
The uncomfortable truth is this:
most hospitality closures are accelerated by disruption, not footfall alone.
When systems fail during peak trading, costs escalate fast:
- • Emergency callouts.
- • Fire and safety risks.
- • Staff discomfort and fatigue.
- • Unplanned downtime during service.
- • Compliance headaches.
In a year where margins are tight, surprises are expensive.
The Stuff That Actually Keeps Businesses Standing
When venues survive difficult years, it’s rarely because of dramatic reinvention.
It’s because the fundamentals are solid.
Behind every successful service is a long list of unglamorous systems doing their job quietly:
- • Extraction pulling heat and grease away.
- • Filters working efficiently, not clogged and tired.
- • Kitchens staying cooler, safer and more comfortable.
- • Back-of-house areas staying compliant without drama.
These systems don’t generate revenue.
But when they fail, they destroy it.
Operational Resilience Matters More Than Ever
In high-pressure years like 2026, operational resilience becomes just as important as marketing or menu innovation.
Resilience looks like:
- • Fewer reactive fixes.
- • More preventative thinking.
- • Less reliance on “it’ll be fine” assumptions.
- • Fewer single points of failure.
Clean, well-maintained extraction and filtration systems won’t solve every challenge facing hospitality, but they remove friction. They reduce risk. They protect teams and equipment.
And when everything else feels uncertain, that stability matters.
This Is a People Issue Too
Closures don’t just remove venues. They displace people.
With staffing already tight, experienced kitchen and facilities staff are invaluable. Losing good people because systems repeatedly fail, kitchens overheat, or working conditions become unsafe is a risk many businesses simply can’t afford.
Reliable back-of-house systems support retention; better air quality, safer, more comfortable kitchens, less stress during busy shifts and fewer last-minute breakdowns. When staff feel supported, they stay longer. And in 2026,keeping good people is just as important as attracting customers.
Control What You Can
Hospitality doesn’t control business rates.
It doesn’t control inflation.
It doesn’t control national policy timelines.
But it does control what happens within its own four walls.
That’s why many operators heading into 2026 are shifting focus:
- • Fewer big, risky changes.
- • More attention to core systems.
- • More effort put into preventing problems before they become emergencies.
It’s not about spending more. It’s about spending smarter.
No Grand Resolutions...Just Practical Thinking
This isn’t a call for shiny new tech or major overhauls.
It’s about asking honest questions...
- What systems would cause the biggest disruption if they failed tomorrow?
- Where are we relying on “it still works” thinking?
- What could we stabilise now to avoid bigger costs later?
In a year where six venues a day may disappear, survival often comes down to details.
Not dramatic changes.
Just fewer avoidable problems.
The Bottom Line
2026 is shaping up to be a testing year for hospitality.
Rising costs, tighter margins and ongoing uncertainty aren’t going away overnight. But the venues that endure will be the ones that focus on resilience, not just revenue.
Strong systems.
Supported teams.
Fewer surprises.
Because sometimes staying open isn’t about doing more.
It’s about making sure what you already rely on doesn’t let you down.