Did you know that UK Hospitality businesses typically pay 82p in business taxes for every £1 of profit?

Restaurants and takeaways are under serious financial pressure in 2026; new research from the British Retail Consortium and UKHospitality found that hospitality businesses paid the equivalent of 82p in business taxes for every £1 of pre-tax profit during 2025/26. That's the highest tax burden of all the 11 major UK business sectors included in the research!

The average was 50p for every £1 of pre-tax profit with retail at 72p and banking at 40.5p. Together, Hospitality and retail paid a whopping £62 billion in business taxes during 2025/26. These taxes include VAT, business rates, employer National Insurance and other business taxes.

Hospitality costs are too high!

Tax is only one part of the story. Hospitality businesses like restaurants, takeaways and pubs need to pay for staff, food, energy, rent, insurance and more.

It's no surprise that a UKHospitality survey published in July 2026 found that 23% of hospitality businesses surveyed were operating at a lost and another 16% believed their business could fail within the next 12 months.

At ZPos, we've always understood how important it is for the businesses we support to protect their hard-earned profit, with slimmer margins this has become more important than ever.

What can you do?

As a business owner with a restaurant or takeaway, you understand that you cannot control every cost. Tax rates, food prices, energy costs and employment costs are being your power to control.

So, what can you do you? Take control of the cost of taking customer orders!

The big ordering portals like Just Eat, Deliveroo & Uber Eats may help businesses generate sales but every portal order typically comes with commission charges.

Just Eat currently states that it charges UK restaurant partners no less than 14% commission (when the restaurant provides its own delivery) plus VAT. A £20 order creates a commission charge of £3.36 including VAT. We think this is too much and for busy businesses it soon adds up to hundreds of pounds and a major cost.

At ZPos, we give restaurants and takeaways a cheaper way to take orders, via their own bespoke branded website. We'll also help you with strategic support and cheap tools to move more customers to order direct so you keep more money from each sale to improve profitability.

Portals can be a powerful stepping stone but don't rely on them

Huge marketing budgets fuelled by high commission allow big names like Just Eat to advertise, this can certainly help restaurants reach customers when new or without a strong customer base of regulars. The end goal for any successful hospitality business however should always be to reduce this dependence, generate your own orders directly.

Remember, every order placed through a portal means a big part of that sale goes to another company.You also have less control over the customer relationship and your customer data which makes marketing difficult.

Customers should order from you instead, not from a portal. They should know your brand and visit your website to order. Then your business can then build its own customer database and use tools such as SMS, email, loyalty points and targeted offers to encourage customers to order again. This is a better strategy than paying a platform to access your own customers. Build your own audience to communicate with directly. Treat a portal as a tool to build your customer base only.

Ownership is key

If you have an established takeaway or restaurant with loyal customers; move away from the portals to reduce commission costs, improve margins take back control.

in 2026, profit matters more than ever

The latest tax figures show what you already know, hospitality businesses are being battered with high costs. Facing one of the heaviest business tax burdens in the UK!

Whilst you have limited control over taxes, wages, energy or food prices, businesses can still make important decisions to save profit.

Focus on where your orders come from and how much you pay to receive them. 

For ZPos clients, increasing direct orders through their own branded website reduces commission costs compared with major ordering portals. The more customers a business can move to direct ordering, the more control it gains over its costs, marketing and customer relationships too. With hospitality businesses paying the equivalent of 82p in business taxes for every £1 of pre-tax profit, keeping more money from every order is vital.

Sources

British Retail Consortium, 30 September 2026
Research produced with UKHospitality found that hospitality paid the equivalent of 82p in business taxes for every £1 of pre tax profit in 2025/26. Hospitality and retail paid a combined £62 billion in business taxes.
https://brc.org.uk/news-and-events/news/corporate-affairs/2026/ungated/high-streets-punishing-tax-burden-is-highest-in-uk-economy-costing-jobs-and-pushing-up-prices/ 

HM Revenue & Customs, 2026/27
Official Government guidance confirms the standard employer National Insurance rate is 15% for 2026/27.
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/rates-and-allowances-national-insurance-contributions/rates-and-allowances-national-insurance-contributions 

HM Treasury, 2026/27
Government guidance confirms the retail, hospitality and leisure business rates multipliers in England.
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/effects-of-the-business-rates-retail-hospitality-and-leisure-multipliers-and-high-value-multiplier/effects-of-the-business-rates-retail-hospitality-and-leisure-multipliers-and-high-value-multiplier 

UKHospitality, July 2026
Industry research found that 23% of surveyed hospitality businesses were operating at a loss and 16% believed they were at risk of failure within the following 12 months.
https://www.ukhospitality.org.uk/one-in-six-venues-risk-closure-as-sector-unites-behind-vat-cut/ 

Just Eat UK
Just Eat's restaurant partner information states a 14% commission where restaurants provide their own delivery. Its £20 order example shows a £3.36 commission charge including VAT.
https://www.just-eat.co.uk/partner/signup/ 

However, it's not all doom and gloom. The same report highlights a 2.1% growth in takeaway and click-and-collect revenue, demonstrating a shift in consumer behaviour. As Karl Chessell, CGA by NIQ’s director – hospitality operators and food, EMEA, aptly put it, "The premium paid for the convenience of deliveries may now be tilting people towards takeaways and click and collect orders."

We specialise in creating bespoke online ordering websites tailored specifically for takeaways and restaurants. Our expertise allows you to:

• Enhance the Takeaway and Click-and-Collect Experience: With the shift towards these services, a seamless and user-friendly online ordering system is crucial. We can design a platform that makes ordering for takeaway and click and collect quick and easy for your customers.
• Boost Customer Loyalty: A personalised online ordering system allows you to build stronger relationships with your customers. Offer exclusive deals, loyalty programs, and personalised recommendations to keep them coming back.
• Control Your Brand and Customer Data: Unlike third-party delivery platforms, a bespoke website gives you complete control over your brand image and valuable customer data.
• Reduce Commission Costs: By driving direct orders through your own website, you can significantly reduce the high commission fees charged by third-party delivery services, preserving your profit margins.
• Adapt to Changing Consumer Trends: With our expertise, we can ensure your online ordering system is agile and adaptable, allowing you to respond quickly to evolving consumer preferences.

In a market where every penny counts, investing in a robust and efficient online ordering system is essential. We understand the unique challenges faced by takeaways and restaurants, and we're committed to providing tailored solutions that drive growth and profitability. 

With the current economic climate, as Karl Chessell said "With so many consumers still feeling the pinch on disposable incomes, we can expect to see this trend continue through 2025.” It is therefore more important than ever to have your own system to maximise profits. Don't let fluctuating delivery sales impact your bottom line. Partner with ZPos and take control of your online ordering experience.

The Importance of Migrating to Google Analytics 4 (GA4)

Google Analytics 4 (GA4) is the latest version of Google's popular analytics platform. It offers a number of new features and capabilities that can help businesses better understand their customers and improve their marketing campaigns. With the impending limitations on Universal Analytics (UA) and the risk of losing access to valuable historical data, migrating to GA4 has become an urgent necessity.

Changes to Universal Analytics (UA), and the impact for you

Google has announced that it will stop processing new data in Universal Analytics (UA) properties on July 1, 2023. This means that any data collected after that date will not be available in UA. If you don't migrate your property by the end of the month, Google has stated that you will lose access to all of your historical data. This data is essential for understanding how your customers interact with your website or app, and it can be used to improve your marketing campaigns now and in the future.

In addition, for those who use Google Ads, you will no longer be able to track conversions in UA, which is the tracking is used for measuring the success of your marketing campaigns and telling you which campaigns are driving the most traffic to your website or app.

Benefits of Migrating to Google Analytics 4 (GA4)

As well as the risk factor in not migrating, there are some big benefits in starting to use Google Analytics 4 (GA4), you open the door to a host of powerful aids that can revolutionise your analytics and marketing efforts. Please include:

• Artificial Intelligence (AI) capabilities: GA4 uses AI to identify trends, predict behaviour, and provide personalised recommendations.
• Cross-platform tracking: GA4 can track users across multiple devices and platforms, giving you a more complete view of their behaviour.
• Enhanced reporting: GA4 offers a number of new reporting features that can help you better understand your customers and improve your marketing campaigns.
• Improved privacy features: GA4 has been designed with privacy in mind, and it offers a number of features that help you protect your customers' data.

Migrate to GA4 with ZPos, Certified Google Analytics Partner

As a Google Analytics certified partner, and with the experienced team we have at ZPos, we can help you migrate your data, set up your GA4 property, and update your website tracking today. ZPos will charge a small labour fee of £60+vat for this service.

Don't wait until it's too late. Migrate to GA4 today by getting in touch with the ZPos Web Team.

We understand the importance of sustainable practices in the restaurant and takeaway industry and that's why we want to share with you the latest news from the government regarding the upcoming ban on single-use plastics.

Following in the footsteps of Scotland and Wales in 2022, England is set to ban a range of single-use plastics from restaurants and takeaways from October 2023.

This ban includes cutlery, plates, stirrers, food containers made of expanded polystyrene, cups, and lids made of expanded polystyrene.

The environmental impact

It is estimated that in England, around 2.7 billion pieces of single-use cutlery are used each year and most of these are plastic. Similarly, approximately 721 million single-use plates are also used (yet only 10% of these items are recycled). 

To put that into perspective, if you were to line up all 2.7 billion pieces of cutlery (which measure around 15cm each) they would span the circumference of the earth over eight and a half times!

The impact on your business

With costs already rising substantially in most other areas like gas and food; finding reliable, quality, and cost-effective suppliers for sustainable packaging can also be a challenge.

Choosing the right sustainable packaging materials for your specific needs is often a complex process. Plastic may have been easy to work with and now you will have a variety of materials to consider, each with its own pros and cons. It's important you have a plan B supplier until you are confident in your choice of sustainable packaging (to avoid any negative impact on your customers).

Consider materials like paper, bamboo, cardboard, rice husk, and sugarcane bagasse. Each material has its own unique features and benefits. Remember that just because a material isn't banned, it doesn't mean it's not harmful to the environment.

To avoid any last-minute rush for suppliers, we recommend planning early and establishing your supply chains now. Research and trial new packaging in small batches to ensure that you have plenty of options, experience, and contacts to adapt as the situation progresses. Once you have chosen your sustainable packaging material, get feedback from your customers before committing to a large order.

Don't believe the hype, just because the label says sustainable or recyclable, it might not apply to the whole of the packaging so check to ensure it's legal for use from October 2023.

How ZPos can help

Sustainable packaging is a great marketing opportunity for your brand

Talk to us at ZPos about the many opportunities to align your website branding with physical packaging - branded cardboard boxes and paper bags are a great way for customers to showcase your brand. Loyal customers might even be happy to support your business with your own branded items for reuse (i.e. cups and flasks).

We support the push for eco-friendly practices and are here to assist you with the transition to sustainable packaging. Contact us to learn more about our sustainable packaging solutions and how we can help your business become more environmentally friendly.