Sir Rocco Forte: I prefer to invest abroad – UK ‘restricted entrepreneurship’ policy says hotelier
- Sir Rocco revealed that he had torn up plans to open a series of boutique hotels
- He said the government was “very, very slowly” cutting back on red tape
- Deregulation that would have helped to move the economy has not happened
Sir Rocco Forte has said he is investing abroad and giving Britain a miss because of the government’s lack of economic direction.
The 87-year-old owns a chain of luxury hotels, including Brown’s in London’s Mayfair and The Balmoral Hotel in Edinburgh.
But Forte told the Mail he had shredded plans to pump money into the British economy by opening a string of boutique hotels in regional tourist centers such as Oxford, Bath and the Cotswolds.
He said, “I have given up on that. I prefer to invest abroad where I can achieve a good return.’
Forte, who supported the UK’s exit from the EU in the Brexit referendum, said the government was “very, very slowly” cutting red tape. “The deregulation that we could have had – that would have really moved the economy – has not happened.”
Snub: Sir Rocco Forte revealed he had shredded plans to pump money into the UK economy by opening a series of boutique hotels in regional tourist centers
Forte made headlines this summer after a call from 300 business executives for the government to scrap a controversial tourist tax.
More than 320 leaders have signed his open letter calling for a return to a VAT-free shopping program for international visitors, with tourists going to Paris and Milan to take advantage of refunds and avoiding London.
The letter claims that doing away with the tax would be ‘a win for business and taxpayers alike’ and signatories include Burberry, Harrods and Shakespeare’s Globe theatre. The hotelier slammed the prime minister and chancellor, accusing them of “not looking at the long-term picture” about the economic benefits of abolishing the levy.
“It’s all short term. I think they’ve decided how to stay in power and see what’s popular in the short term.”
As US tourists return to Europe for holidays post-Covid, Forte said he doesn’t feel “the same pressure of demand” in the UK as he does at his hotels in Italy.
Forte pointed to Sicily, where he opened a hotel resort using a 25 percent €14 million grant and became an honorary citizen after creating hundreds of jobs and boosting the local economy.
“We can’t compete with that in the same way in this country.”
Forte said the UK government’s policies were “restricting entrepreneurship” and there was no compelling economic vision from UK leaders.
He said, “People have to be carried away by a belief in something, a belief that there is a destination that we are trying to reach. There is no destination at the moment and it has been in this country for 15 years, with Labor and Conservative.”