Page 14 - BSA_Something's Brewing_MARAPR 2026 (2)

BSA Member

OPEN LETTER TO MPS

N I C K P E E L
NICK PEEL,,

MD STOKES COFFEEE
M D S T O K E S C O F F E

I am writing publicly as the Managing Director of Stokes Tea and
Coffee, an independent Lincoln business that has traded since 1902 in
coffee wholesale and hospitality.

For 124 years, through wars, recessions and national crises, this
family business has survived. Today, I am questioning whether
continuing to trade in hospitality makes economic sense.

Hospitality is not failing because customers have disappeared or
because operators are incompetent. It is being suffocated by policy
decisions that remove any possibility of breaking even for these
labour-intensive, bricks and mortar businesses.

Rising wage costs, increased employer National Insurance, high

business rates and extortionate energy costs have combined to create
an environment that is completely unsustainable, with absolutely no
sector-specific support on offer

We operate entirely by the book, and always have done.

We pay our taxes. We comply with regulation, employ local people,
train young staff and we support local suppliers. Stokes is a certified B
Corp business, therefore we actively choose to operate responsibly
and ethically, and we contribute significantly to Lincoln and the UK’s
economy. For every £1.00 we sell, 25% is paid in taxes to central
government, local taxes such as rates and levies are on top.

Instead of supporting businesses, they do the exact opposite - for
example, HMRC’s newly introduced points-based VAT system, means
that fines and penalty points can be issued and remain on record for
two years for those businesses that cannot quite make payments by
deadline. There is zero flexibility offered to businesses. Zero

recognition of seasonality.

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MAR/APR. 2026 | ISSUE 47