Pubs · Restaurants · Cafes · Hotels
TUPE for Hospitality Businesses
The venue changes hands. The team Comes With It.
Buying a pub. Selling a restaurant. Losing a hotel catering contract. Each one can trigger TUPE, and each one comes with deadlines. This page explains when TUPE applies, who does what, and what it costs to get wrong. Written for small hospitality businesses in England and Wales by Karl Wood FCIPD.
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Under TUPE, staff assigned to a hospitality business or service contract transfer from the seller to the buyer automatically, on the same terms and pay, with continuous service. The seller must provide employee liability information at least 28 days before the transfer, and dismissal because of the transfer is automatically unfair.
- Who moves
- Everyone assigned
- Terms and pay
- Carried over as they are
- Length of service
- Continuous
- Staff information due
- 28 days before
- Dismissal because of it
- Automatically unfair
What is TUPE?
TUPE protects staff when a hospitality business or service contract changes hands. Employees assigned to it move to the new employer automatically, on the same terms, with continuous service. Both employers must inform staff, and consult if changes are planned.
When it applies
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2 ways
TUPE is triggered
A business sold as a going concern, or a service contract such as catering, cleaning or security moving to a new provider.
-
Under 50
Staff? Consult people directly
Businesses with fewer than 50 employees can inform and consult staff directly when no representatives are in place.
Deadlines
-
28 days
Staff information due
The seller must give the buyer employee liability information at least 28 days before the transfer.
-
6 months
To bring a claim
From October 2026, staff get six months instead of three to bring most employment tribunal claims.
If it goes wrong
-
13 weeks' pay
Per employee, at most
The maximum award for failing to inform and consult, for each affected employee. Both employers can be liable.
-
£500
Per employee, usually at least
The usual minimum award for each employee when employee liability information is missing or late.
Guidance for hospitality employers in England and Wales. Not legal advice.
TUPE Checker
Does TUPE Apply to My Hospitality Business?
Usually, yes, when a business is sold as a going concern or a service contract moves to a new provider. Usually not in a share sale. Pick the situation closest to yours.
Buying a pub, restaurant or café as a going concern
The trade, the team and the goodwill move together. That is a business transfer. Staff assigned to the business transfer to you automatically, on their existing terms.
Next step. Ask the seller for employee liability information early. Before you agree the price.
Buying the shares of the limited company
The employer stays the same company. Only its owner changes. Contracts carry on untouched, and the liabilities stay with the company you now own.
Next step. Do the people due diligence inside the share purchase: contracts, disputes, holiday owed.
Taking over the lease of a venue that keeps trading
A new operator running the same kind of business, in the same place, with the same team, often triggers TUPE. Tenanted and leased pubs are the classic example.
Next step. Talk to the outgoing operator about the team before the keys change hands.
Buying empty premises after the business has closed
If the business has genuinely stopped and you buy only the building, there may be nothing to transfer. That line is narrower than sellers suggest.
Next step. Check whether staff, bookings, the name or the equipment come with it. If they do, plan for TUPE.
Catering, cleaning or security contract changing hands
A contract moving to a new provider, or coming back in house, is a service provision change. Staff principally dedicated to that contract usually transfer with it.
Next step. Confirm exactly who is assigned. Rotas and timesheets tell the truth.
A single event or short, one-off contract
Service provision change does not cover a single specific event or a task of short duration. A contract wholly or mainly for supplying goods, such as food deliveries, is also outside it.
Next step. Keep the scope in writing so the position is clear later.
A general guide, not a legal decision. Every transfer turns on its facts.
Small Businesses
Does TUPE Apply to Small Hospitality Businesses?
Yes. TUPE has no minimum headcount. A four-person café transfers the same way as a 200-room hotel. What changes is how you consult. Small teams can skip electing representatives. They still inform. They still consult. The paperwork is lighter. The duty is the same.
< 50
People employed in the business
Whatever the size of the transfer
< 10
People Transferring
Whatever the size of the business
Common Questions
TUPE in Hospitality: Questions Answered
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Usually, yes. If the business is sold as a going concern, with the site, the trade and the goodwill, TUPE applies and staff transfer automatically on their existing terms. If only empty premises are sold and the business has genuinely stopped, TUPE may not apply.
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Yes. TUPE has no minimum headcount. Businesses with fewer than 50 employees, or transfers of fewer than 10 people, can inform and consult staff directly instead of electing representatives, where none are already in place.
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Usually not. In a share sale the employing company stays the same, so the employer does not change. Staff contracts carry on as they were, and so do any liabilities. Check them in due diligence.
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Yes, if they are assigned to the business or contract that transfers. Assignment is about reality, not labels. A casual who regularly works the site as part of its team is likely to transfer, with continuity and terms intact.
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The written information the seller must give the buyer at least 28 days before the transfer: who is transferring, their terms, their ages, disciplinary and grievance records from the last two years, and any live or likely claims. For a buyer, it is the map of what you are inheriting.
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Not because of the transfer. Changes made for that reason are void, even with the employee's agreement. Changes may be possible for an unrelated reason, or for a genuine economic, technical or organisational reason involving changes to the workforce. Take advice first.
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Yes. An employee can object. Their employment then normally ends on the transfer date without a dismissal, so there is usually no notice pay or redundancy pay. Different rules can apply if the transfer would substantially worsen their working conditions.