We opened a café and campsite to dodge farm tax – now we're getting hit on all sides

A couple who run a 200-acre farm, campsite and cafe in East Sussex say rising costs across the board show that Labour is "ignoring hospitality and agriculture". Anna and Nick Eastwood are the fourth generation of their family to take on Quarry Farm in Bodiam, East Sussex, and the first to introduce diversification measures in a bid to cover dwindling returns from the agricultural business. They make almost nothing from the farm itself, which turns over hay, a few beef cattle and wood in the winter, but have kept it going out of fear that UK's food production faces existential threat on a larger scale.

In the meantime, financial challenges seem to pile up, one after the other. The Government's plan to levy 20% inheritance tax on agricultural land is the latest blow to the sector, which has grapped with rising costs, climate impacts and tough market conditions for years. And the onsite cafe and wooden hut campsite come with their own raft of challenges. Once business rates, National Insurance (NI), VAT and regulatory costs are taken into account, around 50% of Quarry Farm's annual turnover goes on tax, Anna says.

"The people who are keeping their farms going by bringing in other revenue streams aren't doing it for financial reasons," the 49-year-old adds. "It's because at some point there will be a nation to feed, and when that time comes, people will be grateful for it. But it's getting harder and harder."

Alongside a rise in the National Living Wage by 50p for over-21s and 85p for 18-20-year-olds, Rachel Reeves announced that income tax and NI thresholds would be frozen for three years in last month's Budget, pushing more employees into paying income tax and more workers into higher tax bands. The changes could hike payroll pressure for Nick and Anna and complicate recruitment for The Hub cafe, which relies on young seasonal workers.

Even the remote prospect of a regional tourist tax in England, which could be imposed in Sussex by the soon-to-be Mayoral authority, due for election in 2028, propounds the view of a government ignorant of the challenges facing small businesses. While the scheme would concentrate on taxing city-based holiday lets, the Eastwoods are afraid it could discourage people from visiting the wider area and ultimately do more harm than good.

"I can't see that it will generate enough revenue to be worth the trouble," Anna says. "It'll just annoy people and put them off visiting places. They'll think, 'Oh, they don't want me here'."

"From our perspective, it seems like each announcement the Government makes puts us in a worse position," she adds. "I don't know how they keep consistently ignoring hospitality and agriculture. I don't know what they want the countryside or the high street to look like.

"Once you lose this pool of people, who love the land and want to look after it, those skills are gone forever. My kids are teens now and they'll probably sell up and move to different industries, rather than pay the inheritance tax bill and keep farming.

"That will happen elsewhere too, and then when the weather gets more extreme and everyone needs homegrown food, we won't have the land, the knowledge or the equipment to manage these crops."

The Express has called for a U-turn on the inheritance tax plans, which will apply to agricultural land and businesses worth over £1million from next April, warning that it could make it impossible for farmland to be passed down through generations.

Offical government figures show that 26% of UK farms earn more than half their income from diversification, with a record 6,365 agriculture, forestry and fishing business ceasing trading in the year to June 2025, the highest number since records began in 2017.

Tom Bradshaw, president of the National Farmers Union, has also warned of the "inflationary pressures on our food system" of the increase in minimum wage, which will have risen 12% in two years when it comes into effect next April.

Kate Nicholls, chair of UKHospitality, adds: "Wage rises, holiday taxes and monumental increases in rateable values have put even further pressure on hospitality businesses, as a result of this Budget.

"We have a situation where hospitality businesses are checking their wage bills and rateable values, and their hearts are sinking at the eye-watering increases before them.

"Once again, the Government is trying to balance the books disproportionately on the backs of the high street – and risks creating a two-tier economy. Our tax burden remains the highest in the economy and we need urgent action to reduce the cost of doing business, and this Budget does the opposite."

A spokesperson for the Ministry for Housing, Community and Local Government said: "Tourists travel from near and far to visit England's brilliant cities and regions. We're giving our mayors powers to harness this and put more money into local priorities, so they can keep driving growth and investing in these communities for years to come."

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has been contacted for comment.