The FINANCIAL -- The British Hospitality Association is urging the Government to allow hotels to benefit from the Enterprise Investment Scheme, following the Chancellor of the Exchequer's failure to include hotels in the scheme in his autumn statement, according to the Caterer and Hotelkeeper.

The scheme was introduced to help smaller companies raise finance by offering a range of tax reliefs to investors who purchase new shares in those businesses. Hotels were originally able to qualify under the scheme, but were disqualified in 1998 under the Labour Government. Given the current funding difficulties that many companies face, the ability of hotels to be able to take advantage of EIS would provide a boost to business.

However, while hotels are excluded from the scheme, restaurants and pubs are able to benefit from EIS.

The BHA was led to believe that an announcement to remove the restriction on investment in hotels from 6 April 2012 would have been introduced in the autumn statement or in the draft Finance Bill clauses which were published in December.

Couchman said that the BHA was continuing to press the Treasury for change in the EIS rules.

Robin Sheppard, chairman of the 54-strong Bespoke Hotels group, which is currently looking for finance to support its expansion, said that it was "iniquitous" that restaurants and pubs could benefit from EIS and hotels could not.

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