New curfew is a death sentence for us, say bars as 6,000 jobs go
Almost 6,500 jobs in restaurants, cafes, hotels and pubs were axed today as the battered hospitality sector condemned a new 10pm curfew to control the spread of the coronavirus as a “death sentence”.
The new restrictions will come into force on Thursday.
Britain’s biggest hospitality operator Whitbread — owner of the Beefeater, Brewers Fayre and Premier Inn brands — revealed it planned about 6,000 redundancies, almost a fifth of its workforce.
At the same time, pub chain Wetherspoon is to cut 450 posts at six airport sites including Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted.
The heavy losses came as Boris Johnson prepared for a televised address to the nation about the latest set of measures to control the spike in cases over recent weeks.
Pubs and restaurants in England will be forced to close by 10pm and all service will have to be at table.
In a series of interviews today Cabinet Office minister Michael Gove said there will also be a “shift in emphasis” on advice about working from home with the public in England once again advised to avoid the office if possible.
Office occupation in central London has only risen to about a third in September and this is likely to fall back again, dealing another blow to the economies of the West End and the City.
Paul Drechsler, chairman of business group London First, said: “Any change in encouraging back to work message will have deep and long lasting impact on economic recovery. A change in policy should be guided by clear and strong evidence of the workplace as a cause of increase in infections.”
Bosses in the hospitality sector said they were devastated by the new measures. Whitbread chief executive Alison Brittain said the company
had been forced into the “difficult decision” to slash its workforce by a 77.6 per cent downturn in sales in the first half of the year and the prospect that demand will remain depressed “for a period of time”.
Nick Mackenzie, the boss of pubs giant Greene King, today said: “The pub sector is fighting for survival and these new measures will cause further damage and hit our city centre pubs most, especially in London.”
Alex Kratena, co-owner of Old Street bar Tayēr + Elementary, said: “Bars like ours take 70 per cent of the revenue after 10pm — we are already doing 50 per cent less business than last year. Government data shows that only five per cent of infections are connected to hospitality, the only thing the Government is killing here is a small independent award-winning business that creates culture and a sense of place.
“We have now been served a death sentence. I’ve been here for 15 years and I lose my life-long dream.”
Ranjit Mathrani, chairman of MW Eat, owner of the Masala Zone restaurant chain, said: “These measures underline the need for urgent action on rent support and an extension of the furlough scheme until March 2021 targeted at the embattled hospitality and other leisure sectors.”
Meg Ellis, commercial director at Honest Burgers, said: “A 10pm curfew will have a greater impact on some types of hospitality businesses over others, but for our sector at large, any suppression of more general consumer confidence as a result of the measures will be our next collective challenge.”
Michael Kill, chief executive of the Night Time Industries Association, said the 10pm curfew was another “devastating blow to the already beleaguered night-time economy” and that it would “lead to the demise of many of our most beloved cultural and entertainment venues”.
Simon Thomas, chief executive of Leicester Square casino the Hippodrome, said: “They’ve picked the wrong target. Those who work day and night in the hospitality industry know this will simply move people on to the streets en masse from the very places that are being tightly monitored to deliver safe service and a hygienic environment.
Kate Nicholls, chief executive of industry group UKHospitality, said: “We need to see an early signal that the VAT cut will be extended through to the end of 2021; that the business rates holiday will continue next year; and an enhanced employment support package specifically for hospitality.”
Tory MP Sir Bernard Jenkin told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme the people running pubs are under terrible strain “and this will be a terrible blow to them”.
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