According to data collected from 520 UK business owners, some 41% of small business owners in the hospitality sector have already increased prices as a result of the ongoing recruitment crisis and a further 17% expect to push up prices in the next three months.

Small businesses within the hospitality sector have been hit with staff shortages as Brexit laws came into force this year reducing the number of European workers, a workforce that the industry has previously relied on to fill roles.

Out of the business owners surveyed, 29% of people reported to have increased their prices by 10% to 20%.

The research also found that businesses within the food and drink sector have seen the largest rise in salaries with 15% of businesses increasing their wage costs by 50% to 100%.

25% of business owners reported to have been forced to delay growth plans due to staff shortages, with all of these businesses admitting to be struggling to operate at their current capacity due to not enough staff.

Over the next three months, 30% of business owners are planning to increase pay for open vacancies and 34% plan to review and increase pay for existing staff members as a retention method.