AVA consists of 160 members who manage the 460,00 vending machines across the UK. Vending machines appear across the public sector in universities, hospitals and MOD sites.
David Llewellyn, chief executive of AVA, said: “The COVID-19 pandemic has had a devastating impact on the hospitality industry, but it is vital that vending is not forgotten.
“The impact may not be as immediately obvious on out of home and foodservice industries such as vending, but as the government advises people to stay at home and places more restrictions on movement, without support, our industry will be damaged further.
“We are calling for urgent support from the government to help vending companies and the direct supply chain, to ensure that we can navigate this pandemic and our members can continue to operate throughout, and into the future.”
Trade body AVA is calling for the extension of the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme for hospitality businesses and specifically vending companies.
AVA has also asked for the government to consider an additional financial grant to cover the percentage of lost revenue during the crisis or the removal of employer’s national insurance and employee pensions payments.
Since the initial lockdown in March where people were instructed to work from home the average turnover of vending operators decreased to 34% of its previous level and over 60% of the workforce were furloughed.