The Budget, Your Margins, and What Actually Matters for 2026

I'm not a political commentator. I'll leave the headline drama to people who enjoy that sort of thing.

I am someone who spends his days inside golf club F&B operations, looking at the numbers, talking to teams, and trying to help clubs build something sustainable. So when the Budget lands, I'm not thinking about who won or lost politically. I'm thinking about what it means for the club manager trying to protect their margins while keeping members happy.

Here's what I know from the ground: 2025 has been soft.

Sales flat, costs marching upward, and that familiar feeling of running hard just to stand still. The data backs this up – like-for-like sales in managed hospitality hovering around zero growth; but honestly, you don't need a report to tell you what you're living every day.

I don't expect 2026 to rescue anyone. Any top-line growth will come from price and mix, not from magically serving more covers. That's just the reality.

The 10% That Keeps Everything Running

Let's talk about a healthy-ish F&B operation. Say you're doing £600k net revenue:

• £240k on COGs (40%)

• £300k on labour including on-costs (50%)

• £60k left over (10%)

That final 10% isn't profit you can bank and forget. It's your reinvestment pot. It covers the small kit replacements, the crockery and glassware, the cleaning consumables, your EPOS and rota systems, the menu boards, the signage, the bits of refurbishment that stop your clubhouse looking tired.

Let that slide for a couple of years… you get tired spaces very quickly. Members notice, even if they can't quite articulate what's changed.

Now layer on reality. National Living Wage up over 4%. Suppliers and duty pushing wholesale prices higher. If you hold your prices still, that £60k reinvestment pot starts looking more like £30-40k.

The Quiet Positives

There's enough people talking about the negatives. I'd rather focus on what's actually useful.

Three things from this Budget genuinely help:

Business rates – A structural shift towards lower rates for retail, hospitality and leisure properties under £500k rateable value. That's exactly where most clubhouses sit. One of your big fixed costs just got a bit lighter.

Capital allowances – Full expensing and a new 40% first-year allowance improve the economics of sensible investment. New glasswasher, better POS, energy-efficient kit – the stuff that actually reduces labour hours or utility costs over time. If you're going to invest anyway, the maths just got better.

Apprenticeships – Under-25 apprenticeships fully funded. Instead of relying entirely on expensive experienced hires, you can build a genuine pipeline of trained people.

None of these fix tomorrow's wage bill. But together they give you room to make intentional choices rather than just reacting.

What I'd Actually Recommend

Here's where I land: a strategy built around very careful margin control and a 3-5% price increase in April.

Not a panic move. Not a headline-grabbing hike. A considered adjustment that protects your reinvestment capacity while keeping you competitive.

The shape of it:

• Targeted increases – Focus on premium categories and less price-sensitive lines. Spirits, specialty serves, higher-end wines. Keep your entry-level and family staples as accessible as possible.

• Use the Budget levers – Actually use them, don't just read about them. Apprenticeships to build a stronger team. Capital allowances to justify investments that permanently cut costs. Business rates savings to part-fund those projects.

• Do the unglamorous work – Rota design based on actual demand. Clear dish and drink specs. Tightly costed menus. A product range sized for your real volume, not your ego.

This approach keeps your reinvestment percentage somewhere close to that crucial 8-10%, avoids shock headlines with members, and leaves you structurally leaner by the end of 2026.

Getting On With It

Here's the thing: we need to plan properly for 2026, and we need to start now.

The clubs that come through another flat year won't be the ones who shouted loudest about how hard things are. They'll be the ones who made calm, deliberate choices about prices, margins and investment – and then executed those choices well.

Double down on great guest experiences. Back that up with excellent financial strategy. That's how you build something sustainable.

The Budget gives you options. What matters now is how you choose to use them.

Quick one — if you’ve not done this yet, my scorecard helps you spot gaps across guest experience, costs, and day-to-day ops. Takes a few minutes and you’ll get a proper report at the end.