Press & media

Paddl publishes original research on UK hospitality, built from complete official open datasets. It is free for journalists and editors to use, with a link back to the report.

Press contact

For data, interviews, regional or business-type breakdowns, or comment from our team, email info@paddl-ai.co. We can provide tailored cuts of the data (for example, the figures for a specific council, region or business type) on request.

Key statistics, free to cite

Please attribute to Paddl with a link to the relevant report.

  • 31.2% of UK food businesses do not hold a top 5-star hygiene rating.
  • 886 food businesses are operating with a 0 rating, the lowest score.
  • 33.8% of food businesses were last inspected more than two years ago (23.9% more than three).
  • Blaenau Gwent has the fewest top-rated businesses of any large council area (44.1%); 9 council areas have fewer than half rated 5.
  • Only 56.1% of takeaways and sandwich shops hold a top rating, and 5.3% are rated 0 to 2, double the national rate.
  • UK hospitality faces an estimated £2.92bn a year in business rates; the typical hotel around £47,520.

Reports & downloadable data

UK Food Hygiene Ratings Report 2026Every food business on the FSA Food Hygiene Rating Scheme (549,668 establishments), by nation, region, business type and council, plus inspection recency.
UK Hospitality Business Rates Report 2026Rateable values and 2026 business rates across 108,285 pubs, restaurants, cafes, hotels and guest houses, from the full VOA rating list.

Each report also has embeddable charts (with a ready-to-paste snippet) and a social share image. All figures are aggregated from official Food Standards Agency and Valuation Office Agency data under the Open Government Licence.

About Paddl

Paddl is UK hospitality operations software that brings compliance, daily operations and business protection into one platform: food safety and HACCP, allergens, temperature records, risk assessments, training, and more, for restaurants, pubs, cafes, hotels and other venues. It is built and supported in the UK.

More at paddl-ai.co. Press contact: info@paddl-ai.co.