Hospitality businesses offer the lowest hourly pay of any UK sector, new research suggests.
Business finance experts at money.co.uk business bank accounts said that analysis of ONS data shows that tighter margins mean that hospitality firms are forced to offer staff hardly more than minimum wage.
It comes as the UKHospitality chief executive Kate Nicholls has criticised the Uk Government’s efforts to boost business growth through its recently announced Industrial Strategy, saying it failed to address the challenges facing the hospitality sector.
Industries with the lowest hourly pay:
The accommodation and food service activities sector makes up a significant part of the UK’s economy, with the hospitality sector’s annual economic contribution hitting £93 billion in 2023 and estimated to increase by another £29 billion by 2027.
Despite this, this industry's workers have the lowest hourly pay rate. An average working week is around 26 hours long, and the average hourly pay is £12.39 – just 18 pence above the national living wage.
Businesses within the industry have faced a lot of financial hardship in recent years, the researchers said, including the Covid pandemic and National Insurance increases. This has made improving workers' pay increasingly difficult while still making a profit, contributing to lower hourly rates in the sector.
The sector also ranked in the top 10 for the amount of overtime worked, with employees clocking an average of 2.8 hours of overtime per week.
Joe Phelan, money.co.uk business bank accounts expert, said:
“Attracting and retaining high-quality talent doesn’t just come down to salary – it’s also about meeting evolving expectations around working conditions. Today’s employees are more willing to walk away from roles that don’t offer a healthy work-life balance or prioritise wellbeing. That means businesses need to offer more than just pay; they must create environments with manageable hours, flexibility, and genuine support.
“When companies get this right, they typically see lower staff turnover, higher engagement, and more consistent productivity, all of which feed into more stable operations and healthier cash flow. And with greater financial predictability comes the ability to plan and grow with confidence.”
