Hospitality looking at a million job losses. An extended period of social distancing could cost one million jobs unless measures to protect hospitality businesses are put in place.
Professor Chris Whitty yesterday warned that social distancing measures could last beyond 2020. Prompting UKHospitality to write to Michael Gove MP.
Michael Gove in an interview last weekend sent shockwaves through hospitality. Gove in the interview made his views clear: Hospitality was among the first to be shut down and it will be among the last to exit.
The letter recommends a six-point plan to help hospitality businesses reopen following the crisis, to save jobs and businesses.
Recognising that public health must be the paramount in Government policy, the letter highlights concerns for hospitality businesses.
It sets out the need for a pragmatic, evidence-based plan to help businesses open when it is safe to do so.
Diverse Industry – Hospitality looking at a million job losses
UKH has emphasised the immense diversity and variety of business models across the hospitality industry. Showing that some businesses may be able to reopen earlier than others, following Government guidelines.
The letter stresses the need for a phased approach to avoid a “yo-yo effect” of openings and closings which could see businesses fail and see up to one million jobs lost.
The six-point plan sets out the level of support that the sector needs to reintegrate into the economy.
Hospitality looking at a million job losses
In order to avoid in excess of one million redundancies UKHospitality recommends…
Six Point Plan
- Extension of the furlough scheme beyond the end of June for hospitality
- Legislative intervention on rent payments
- Improved access to capital
- A comprehensive fiscal package to stimulate demand post-crisis
- An overhaul of business regulation
- Guaranteeing a functioning and responsive insurance market
Reopening without a plan ‘catastrophic’
UKHospitality Chief Executive Kate Nicholls said: “With social distancing measures still in place, reopening the hospitality sector without a plan would be catastrophic.
“The hospitality sector was one of the first hit by the crisis and the hardest hit in terms of lost revenue. It will also be one of the last to fully emerge from the lockdown.
“An extended period of social distancing will mean that many hospitality businesses will not be able to operate fully, and many will not be able to open at all. Hospitality is a sector built around socialising, so there must be Government support for businesses that continue to be hit by this crisis.
“We need a plan of phased opening for our sector. For those businesses that can trade safely with social distancing measures still in place, they should be able to. For the many venues where it is not possible, support, such as the furlough scheme, must be extended to make sure these businesses stay alive and jobs kept open. We cannot have a situation where, overnight, the entire sector is suddenly expected to hit the ground running.
“If the correct support is not in made available to help businesses get back to work when the time is right, then businesses will have survived the immediate crisis only to find themselves out of business during the aftermath.”
There is ongoing lack of access to capital.
This problem has been compounded by many local authorities not paying grants.
The plan proposed by UKHospitality now needs to be carefully reviewed and listened to by Michael Gove and his colleagues in Westminster.