The announcement from The Office for National Statistics that the UK is in recession is possibly the least surprising statistic released so far in 2020.
The scale of decline shows the UK economy in the first three months of 2020 fell 20.4% compared to the same period 2019.
Only a few days ago we reported on the Bank of England forecasting a lower impact and longer exit from Covid-19.
The lower impact, lower than previously feared but still 20.4%, and longer exit does point to the current business climate being around for some time before we start to see meaningful improvements. For hospitality this means that many of the difficulties currently impacting businesses will have to be dealt with, and urgently.
Many of the difficulties are macro-economic and as such hospitality as a whole can only combat alongside others. But some are micro-economic and as such can be fought not only by the industry as a whole, but by segments of it and individual businesses.
The Office for National Statistics data covers the first half of 2020, July and August will show some improvements, but only on the worst ever economic numbers recorded for UK PLC. Survival is now the realistic objective for hospitality businesses.
The real picture of where many businesses are is delayed, bills are owed and unpaid and the underlying health of many businesses is still under cover. In the first half of 2020 many well-known hospitality brands have disappeared and in the second half this will increase and possibly multiply.
But there are signs of positivity, and these need to be heeded.
Government initiatives fueling hospitality recovery
Rishi Sunak’s scheme has seen 10 million diners using the incentive in its first week. Not only does this add important revenues to hospitality businesses taking part in the scheme, it gets people back to going out and experiencing hospitality first hand.
The ‘Eat Out to Help Out’ scheme is proving to be a major boost for hospitality and as such participating is not only good for your hospitality business it is good for the whole industry too.
Looking for hospitality partners to fight the invisible foe in customer confidence
Safe Hospitality: Keep hand washing front of mind
Sustainable hospitality face masks
Visa and Mastercard Overcharging Refund, a well-timed potential financial windfall for hospitality
Sage say schools to open and hospitality to close is a political decision
The Covid-19 crisis in hospitality is also being featured in our Facebook and twitter social media