Hospitality is the heartbeat of Newcastle. From the cafés lining Grainger Street to restaurants on the Quayside, the pubs and bars that bring life to our evenings, the live music venues showcasing local talent, and the hotels welcoming visitors from across the UK and beyond – hospitality underpins the city’s economy, culture, and social life. But it’s not just the city centre that matters. Across neighbourhoods like Byker, Jesmond, Heaton, and Gosforth, cafés, pubs, restaurants, hotels, and cultural venues create jobs, support communities, and define the character of Newcastle as a whole.
Yet today, businesses across the city face unprecedented pressures. Rising costs, complex regulations, and broader economic uncertainty are pushing many to the edge. Small and independent operators – the backbone of the city’s hospitality ecosystem – are particularly exposed.
Pressures on every front
For years, hospitality businesses have absorbed rising rents, wages, energy costs, and supply chain inflation while recovering from the pandemic. Now, multiple pressures are converging. Business rates have increased sharply. Wages continue to rise. Energy costs remain volatile. Supply chains are under strain. For many operators, these combined pressures are unsustainable.
Independent businesses, often employing fewer than 50 staff, cannot spread costs or rely on large reserves. Many have already reduced staff hours, renegotiated contracts, or taken on debt just to stay open. For example, a family-run café in Byker has had to cut staff hours to cover rising energy bills, while a live music venue in Jesmond faces uncertainty over licensing fees despite consistent local audiences. These are not isolated cases – they reflect the fragility of the sector citywide.
Cultural and economic stakes
The threat to hospitality is more than financial. Across Newcastle, these businesses create spaces for communities to gather, ideas to be shared, and local culture to thrive. The closure of even a handful of independent cafés, pubs, or music venues – whether in the city centre or suburban neighbourhoods – would diminish the city’s character and its ability to attract investment and talent.
Hospitality is also a major employer. Tens of thousands of jobs across the city rely on a vibrant sector. Staff face increased workloads and rising living costs, making retention and recruitment challenging. The sector’s sustainability is at risk – not because of talent shortages, but because the businesses themselves are under unsustainable pressure.
A unified voice and a citywide strategy
One of The Core’s primary objectives is to provide a single, consistent voice for Newcastle’s hospitality sector. By speaking collectively, we can ensure that the full range of businesses – from city centre restaurants and bars to suburban cafés, pubs, hotels, and cultural venues – is represented in decisions affecting the city.
Beyond advocacy, we are developing a hospitality strategy for Newcastle, with clear citywide goals:
• Supporting sustainable growth for small and independent operators across the entire city.
• Enhancing vibrancy and footfall in both city centre and neighbourhood venues through coordinated events, promotions, and partnerships.
• Investing in workforce development, training, and innovation to strengthen the sector’s resilience.
• Protecting Newcastle’s cultural and visitor offer, ensuring every community benefits and visitors experience the city’s diversity.
This strategy is a framework for collaboration between businesses, local authorities, and partners to ensure Newcastle’s hospitality sector thrives for years to come.
Engaging political leaders ahead of May
With local elections approaching in May, Newcastle faces a pivotal moment. Who leads the city politically will shape policies affecting hospitality for years. To ensure the sector has a voice, The Core has written to all party leaders with four key questions:
1. Backing Newcastle’s hospitality sector
What concrete steps will your party take to support pubs, bars, hotels, restaurants, cafés, coffee shops, music venues, and cultural venues – across the city – to grow, adapt, and thrive?
2. Boosting footfall and activity citywide
How will your party ensure Newcastle’s hospitality sector thrives across both the city centre and neighbourhoods, benefiting all businesses and communities?
3. Fair and flexible licensing & regulation
What plans do you have to ensure licensing, planning, and regulatory policies are proportionate and responsive to the needs of hospitality businesses of all sizes and locations?
4. Giving the Sector a Voice
How will your party ensure that all hospitality businesses, whether in the city centre or in local communities, have a seat at the table when decisions are made affecting the city’s economy, culture, and visitor experience?
By asking these questions, The Core is ensuring hospitality is central to Newcastle’s political debate and decision-making.
Newcastle has always been proud of its energy, culture, and community. Its hospitality sector – across the city centre and all neighbourhoods – is central to this identity. Yet without intervention, many businesses face a tipping point. The cost of inaction is clear: lost jobs, fewer visitors, weaker local supply chains, and a city with diminished cultural vibrancy. The cost of support is an investment in jobs, tourism, culture, and community.
At The Core, we are ready to work with government, local authorities, and industry partners to ensure Newcastle’s hospitality sector not only survives but thrives. By uniting the sector under a single voice, developing a citywide strategy, and engaging political leaders directly, we can secure a future where hospitality continues to define the character and energy of Newcastle – for the city centre, its neighbourhoods, and every community in between.
Nick Kemp
Head of Operations
The Core – Newcastle Hospitality Association
