One in five hospitality bosses not planning to reopen all sites

Pub and restaurant owners have been hurt by the coronavirus crisis

REUTERS

Joanna Hodgson19 August 2020

One in five hospitality bosses is not planning to ever reopen some of the sites they had to shut for the Covid-19 lockdown, a new survey showed on Wednesday.

Trade association UKHospitality questioned the leaders of 140 of its members that collectively run 12000 venues, including pubs restaurants and hotels, about current trading and plans.

Firms were severely hurt when the government ordered sites to close in March.

Businesses were only allowed to reopen from July 4, but with social distancing measures some locations are less financially viable to welcome back customers.

Of the respondents to the survey, 20% said they are planning to keep a proportion of their venues permanently closed.

The results came as Pizza Express became the latest casual dining chain to confirm plans for a Company Voluntary Arrangement, a restructure model that allows businesses to axe sites or get rent cuts.

It listed 73 branches it wants to close, putting 1100 jobs at risk. It had not reopened any of these sites from lockdown yet.

Some 43% in UKHospitality’s survey are either fairly or very pessimistic about the future prospects of their business over next 12 months, while only 4% are very optimistic.

In London, restaurants and bars are struggling from weaker tourist numbers and a lack of workers coming back to offices.

Kate Nicholls, chief executive of UKHospitality, said: “It is increasingly clear that the crisis is far from over for London’s hospitality businesses and that the city will be affected more deeply and for longer than other parts of the country.”

Nicholls added: “ These figures show the urgent need for an action plan by the Mayor and Government that delivers support and clear, strong messaging that London is open.”

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