Last week, Kentucky Fried Chicken announced it would create 9,000 new jobs in the next five years at an investment cost of £150m; Subway made a similar announcement, saying it was creating 7,000 new jobs; a further 1,000 jobs will be created by McDonald's and Domino's Pizza announced 1,500 new posts.

This good news was significantly underplayed by commentators and prompted the Tourism Alliance to write to strong note to Parliament urging them to invest in and support the hospitality industry. Bob Cotton, chief executive of the BHA, commented: "They are jobs, both full-time and part-time, that people want; they are jobs that can fit into any work/life balance pattern. And they are management and supervisory positions as well as craft and unskilled jobs. So what's wrong with them? Nothing. Yet the good news was treated as if it was bad news."