- Cabinet meets to discuss Omicron crisis – but agrees to DO NOTHING until more data is available
- Scotland will urge caution and encourage vaccination – but will NOT enforce tougher guidelines before Christmas
The UK Government met yesterday to discuss the gathering Omicron crisis – but decided to DO NOTHING following their two-hour meeting.
PM Boris Johnson said the situation will be monitored ‘hour by hour’.
91,743 Covid cases were reported across the UK yesterday – the second highest daily total on record – and this figure is expected to rise steeply over the coming days as Omicron becomes the dominant variant.
The UK public has already voted with it’s feet, with many choosing to stay away from busy venues. This has created a new crisis for the beleaguered hospitality industry …
Weekend hospitality sales plummet by 40%
New figures, from industry body UKHospitality, show December set to be a disaster for a sector which had much riding on this key period and hopes for a better 2022 already lie in tatters.
Over half (54%) of venues were down more than 40% in revenue last weekend, with one in five businesses reporting a crushing sales drop of more than 60%. On top of these bleak trading figures, 88% of operators say they feel negative about the potential of New Year’s Eve trading and four in five operators have already experienced cancellations for bookings in what was already set to be a quiet Q1 next year.
A separate survey, for the Tourism Alliance, showed that a third of pubs, bars and restaurants have no cash reserves and 10% of pubs and 14% of restaurants are therefore very likely to fail, with consequent job losses.
Without any form of Government support a further 40% are at risk of failure. Accommodation businesses are only slightly more resilient with 22% reporting no cash reserves – 47% with less than 2 months’ worth – with 26% at risk of failure in the next year without further support.
UKHospitality Chief Executive, Kate Nicholls, said: “Hospitality operators desperately want to keep their doors open and trade their way to recovery, particularly during the Christmas period, which is not only key for balance sheets but for the communities and people our businesses serve.
“However, these catastrophic figures clearly show that trading levels are now so low that without Government support many businesses will not survive into the New Year and jobs will be lost. Cancellations have annihilated cash reserves.
“The industry urgently needs grants for short-term business survival and an extension to business rates relief and the lower VAT rate to secure longer term survival and planning.
“It is also crucial that the Government lets the industry know as soon as possible if measures are to be imposed and what they might be, to allow for as much damage limitation as possible.”
Scottish Licensed Trade Association managing director Colin Wilkinson said: “Of course, we all want to do what we can to stop the spread of the virus and the licensed hospitality sector has gone to enormous effort and invested millions of pounds in mitigation measures and will continue to do so for as long as it can.
“The shutdown of the licensed hospitality industry, effectively by stealth, puts most businesses in an even worse scenario than last Christmas when there was some finance available via Government grants and the furlough scheme was in place.
“Whilst the restrictions that we feared have not yet been imposed, there still remains a great deal of uncertainty for our industry which was beginning to recover, albeit slowly, and looking forward to reasonably good prospects during the key festive trading period.
“We have not been ordered to close our doors yet but many have no choice when so many bookings have been cancelled.
“Last week’s call from Public Health Scotland not to have festive parties – endorsed the next day by the First Minister – killed Christmas and, I fear, will kill some businesses who will not survive without financial support. Our industry desperately needs additional aid to save it – and it needs it now.
“Our industry desperately needs additional aid to save it – and needs it NOW.
“I cannot stress how serious the situation is – many of our members are in dire straits. There will be no happy Christmas for those who are worried about the future and face the prospect of making staff redundant or, worse, pulling down the shutters.
“It is not only operators who are affected by Government interventions – staff and those in the supply chain are also being dragged into the horrendous situation we are still in without any other restrictions looming on the horizon.”
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has already confirmed that no further restrictions will be introduced in Scotland before Christmas.
The Scottish Cabinet will meet this morning and any further changes to post-Christmas Covid restrictions will be announced to Parliament this afternoon.
Ye’ll huv hud yer Hogmanany, then?
