Rockfish owner calls for VAT cut

A fifth of prices goes to the exchequer

Devon-based celebrity chef Mitch Tonks has claimed a cut in VAT would help spur the economy, claiming politicans have “zero connection” with small businesses.

The proprietor of the Rockfish chain of restaurants said the sales tax currently means a fifth of the prices he charges goes to the exchequer.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves declared last month that VAT – along with income tax and national insurance – would not rise in her budget this month, but restaurateurs like Tonks won’t be holding the breaths for a surprise cut.

“You never hear any [politicians] talking about the every day economy and the small businesses that we’re surrounded by that really make the country tick,” Mr Tonks told Devon’s Radio Exe.

“People don’t realise that if they see something in a restaurant for £20, and they think it’s expensive, that £4 of that goes to the government.

“If you reduced VAT by half, three things would happen. The restaurant would earn more money and the owners might keep it and pay tax on it; or they would employ more people because they’ve got money to open more places, and guess what, they’d pay more tax; or they would give staff a pay rise to keep them, and guess what, they’d pay more tax.”

Mr Tonks said high taxes make it “harder and harder for an industry that’s already hard work”.

“I can’t understand how the people who are meant to be running our country have zero-connection with the everyday economy,” he added.

Some commentators believe raising VAT would be a sensible and fair move, despite accusations the less well off pay a disproportionate amount of their income. Last week, the Economist newspaper appealed for the tax to rise to pay for public services.

The last increase was in 2011 when the Conservatives put it up from 17.5 per cent to 20 per cen. Nordic countries, such as Sweden and Denmark, have a 25 per cent rate of sales tax yet manage to balance so-called ‘big government’ with robust economies.

Separately, Mr Tonks gave an update on his ongoing Devon projects, notably Sidmouth and Salcombe, and why Topsham won’t have a Rockfish for the time being.

He said his business had been offered the lease on a quayside side, but the post-pandemic spike in inflation led to him pausing expansion plans.

Late, work began for Salcombe restaurant launch, so now, four years after acquring a property at Topsham, it has been given up.

“All along we’ve had people from Topsham saying ‘when are you opening’, but we can only do one site at a time as we are not a huge conglomerate but a small family business,” he said.

“Going ahead would have meant the people of Topsham waiting a year and I don’t think they would have forgiven me, so I decided, with a heavy heart, to say that we can’t do it in the timeframe.

“But I do love Topsham, and it would be great [to have a site there], so who knows, perhaps one day.”

Mr Tonks bought the former Drill Hall at Sidmouth’s Esplanade before covid, but the pandemic and some planning issues also halted progress there.

Once lockdowns eased, he bought the adjoining public toilets, which will be replaced with new ones as part of the scheme.

“We’re going to demolish the building that’s there now,” he said.

“We have started on it, although the planning took an age due to things like flood risk assessments, so we’re planning to be open next summer.”

Salcombe’s Rockfish will open nine months later than expected because of what Mr Tonks said are “really big unforeseen groundworks problems” that meant the ground needed to be piled due to the property being right next to the water.

The full interview with Mr Tonks is on Radio Exe’s speech station Devoncast Radio, on DAB in the south of the county.