What must this upcoming budget do if it really means business?
To answer that, the Gazette spoke to a lead figure in one sector of business that knows better than most what it takes to put food on the table.
Tom Brooke, founder of Red Dog Saloon, has been working in restaurants for well over a decade, and now has branches of his Red Dog Saloon in Nottingham, Liverpool, Southampton, and three in London (Soho, Hoxton Square, and Finsbury Park). The Gazette spoke to him to find out what he hopes to come out of number 11’s red briefcase.
The Gazette: So, Tom Brooke — founder of Red Dog Saloon — you’ve been running restaurants for quite a long time now. How long has it actually been?
Tom Brooke: I started Red Dog restaurants 15 years ago, but I’ve been in hospitality for about 27 years. It’s been my whole life really.
The Gazette: How did you first get your start in hospitality?
Tom Brooke: Honestly, I started in the kitchen peeling potatoes. I just wanted to work in really good restaurants. I’ve always been passionate about food and being a chef, and like everyone else I began at the bottom — but I made sure it was in a good kitchen, and that was important to me. That shaped everything that came after.
The Gazette: And now, after nearly three decades in the industry, what would you say is the biggest challenge for a restaurant business today?
Tom Brooke: Consistency, without a doubt. It’s one thing for a chef to stand over a counter and plate a dish beautifully. But it’s a completely different challenge to get a thousand, two thousand, even three thousand plates of food out every week, every single day of the week, and all to the same level. That’s a huge undertaking. Maintaining the same quality at scale is probably the hardest thing about the job.
The Gazette: And in terms of the factors you can actually control — what helps you maintain that consistency?
Tom Brooke: People. Absolutely, unquestionably, it’s people. Hospitality isn’t run by machines — it’s run by human beings. I can’t do it all myself. I need great people around me. And the biggest tool I have, the thing I am most proud of after all these years, is the team I’ve developed. It’s taken decades — literally decades — to build the kind of team we have now. That’s what makes the consistency possible.
The Gazette: When it comes to hiring, is it the same now as when you first started, or has that changed?
Tom Brooke: It’s changed massively. One of the biggest changes to the workforce came with Brexit. Before Brexit, there was a huge amount of immigration from Europe that supported the hospitality sector. After Brexit, that flow just dried up. The applications weren’t there. It eventually got replaced by different immigration, but the transition was a shock. It made a very big difference and added a lot of pressure.
The Gazette: Since we’re going to be talking about the Budget and government policy, before we get into the details — would you say you’d like to see changes to how immigration from Europe is handled? Something that makes it easier again?
Tom Brooke: Yes, definitely. I’m an immigrant myself, and I absolutely believe in the benefits of good immigration policy. I’d love to see more immigrants from Europe again — not for political reasons, but because hospitality and cooking across Europe is so rich. There’s so much variety, technique, skill, tradition. Cutting ourselves off from that is such a shame. Immigration enriches culture, and restricting it harms us.
The Gazette: Would you go as far as to say the government should seriously consider rejoining the EU?
Tom Brooke: That’s a really big question. I’m not the biggest fan of the bureaucracy of the EU or how the European Union is run, so I wouldn’t jump straight to that conclusion. But what I would say is that immigration policy in Britain needs to be improved — massively. People should be able to move freely, but with proper systems in place so that the right people can come, and so that the people you want to attract actually feel welcome. Right now, the policy — or the lack of policy — is quite damaging. That needs to be addressed regardless of EU membership.
The Gazette: Let’s turn to the Budget then. If you had a wish list for the upcoming Budget, what would you most want to see?
Tom Brooke: I want to see pressure relieved on the hospitality industry. It’s a brutally difficult industry even at the best of times. It’s highly competitive, but it brings so much to the economy, and to the culture and the quality of life in this country. And over many years — and it’s not just Labour, the Conservatives too — governments have ratcheted up costs, increased bureaucracy, and made it harder and harder for businesses to survive. When restaurants close, we all lose. Communities lose. Customers lose. So I’d love to see the government lift some of that pressure and let the industry breathe. Right now it feels like we’re living under a jackboot.
The Gazette: When you talk about relieving pressure, can you give a specific example? A particular policy that needs to change?
Tom Brooke: The most obvious one is the National Insurance increase from the first Labour Budget. That single change added a huge cost to employing people. It didn’t create jobs — it destroyed them. It put enormous strain on restaurants. So the first thing I would ask for is to reverse that rise in National Insurance, because it’s been extremely damaging.
The Gazette: That affects employers across every sector. Is there something more specific to hospitality that concerns you in the upcoming Budget?
Tom Brooke: Yes. VAT. If you go to a supermarket and buy a bottle of beer — from a huge multinational company — you pay a lower rate of VAT than you do if you buy a beer in a restaurant. Why should massive corporations get a better tax rate than small, family-run hospitality businesses? It doesn’t make sense. Everyone should pay the same rate. The current system is grossly unfair.
The Gazette: But in any Budget, if one sector needs something, another sector might end up paying the price. How do you think the balance should fall?
Tom Brooke: I’m a believer in fairness and equality. I don’t want to hammer one industry to support another. We’re all in the same economy. What concerns me is that this Chancellor clearly wants to spend enormous amounts of money, especially on welfare. And the only way to do that is to increase taxes on people who go out, work hard, and pay their mortgages. It feels deeply unfair. Working people are being squeezed. People on welfare are receiving increases. Of course we should support those who are vulnerable — I’m all for that — but in a time of hardship, everyone should share the burden. Not just one side.
The Gazette: You’ve mentioned a lot of policy areas — immigration, National Insurance, VAT. But is there something very specific about the nature of running a restaurant that you think the government still doesn’t understand?
Tom Brooke: Yes, definitely. Hospitality has a very large number of entry-level workers. People with no experience, people on minimum wage, people getting their first job. It’s one of the most welcoming industries in that sense — it has very few barriers to entry. And I want to pay my staff fairly. But artificially raising the minimum wage — which sounds wonderful politically — doesn’t work in practice. The maths of it just don’t add up. Restaurants operate on tiny margins. Labour is our biggest cost. When you force up wages by government decree instead of letting the market set them, you don’t create more jobs. You destroy them. That’s particularly true in hospitality because such a high proportion of staff enter at minimum wage level. It sounds great, but the reality is it damages the industry, reduces jobs, and ultimately leaves people worse off.
The Gazette: What about supply chains? Are there particular pressures there that the government needs to be aware of?
Tom Brooke: Absolutely. Inflation has been a massive problem. Ingredients, food, drink, energy — everything has gone up. And consumers are suffering the same inflation, which means they have less disposable income. So on one side you’ve got rising costs, and on the other side customers who can’t spend as much. Everyone ends up poorer. That constant squeeze is a huge issue.
The Gazette: So really, what you want is a Budget focused on growth in the private sector?
Tom Brooke: Exactly. Growth is the only way out of any financial hole. Government spending doesn’t create growth — the private sector does. I’m a free-market person, a capitalist. I believe if governments step out of the way and let the private sector thrive, we’ll end up with a stronger economy and a stronger welfare state. I believe in welfare. I believe in looking after people who need support, and I believe in a strong NHS. But the way to fund that is to have a thriving private sector. If the government keeps taxing more, spending more, and printing money, we just get more inflation and everyone becomes poorer. They’re taking a shortcut to get votes now instead of building long-term prosperity. If the private sector is depressed, there’s no way to pay for the welfare system except raising taxes and printing money — and that’s not sustainable.
The Gazette: Thank you very much for your time, Tom. I’m sure our readers will find your views very interesting.
Tom Brooke: Thank you. It was a pleasure.
