Speaking during a live webinar hosted by Access Hospitality on 22 September Kate Nicholls, chief executive of UKHospitality, said: “Unless the government acts really quickly, we've got a cliff edge coming at the end of September, which is when the trigger date comes for redundancy consultations, and it's also when the rents have to be paid.
“You cannot close down or severely restrict a whole sector without providing support for the people whose jobs, livelihoods depend upon it. You must make the support packages available to the industry last as long as the restrictions that you impose upon us. In the initial period, we need sector-specific furlough to be continued while we are through this period of closure.
“You need a real solution on rents because the rent dilemma comes to a head at the end of September and, currently, we don't have that debt enforcement moratorium extended, and we don't have any support on rent.”
According to research one in five restaurants are yet to re-open leaving thousands of hospitality workers still on furlough.
Karl Chessell, food & retail business unit director of CGA, commented: “The one thing I personally would like to see from the Government is an extension to the furlough because I think that's the closest cliff-edge. There is a whole range of support packages that are going to be needed and, inevitably, I think there will be some element of role change as hospitality adapts.”
A survey conducted for Access Hospitality by CGA identified that reassuring consumers about their safety was ‘essential’. Chessell added: “Every time there is a government announcement such as a stay-at-home, the rule of six or hospitality must close at 10:00pm, it dents consumer confidence.
“People are researching online more and that is where having the right hygiene protocols in place, but also communicating clearly on your website, on your social media channels is really, important.”