Alack of clarity is Boris Johnson’s calling card.
This time last week he announced Plan B: working from home is back, and masks are required everywhere — apart from in restaurants and bars. Because of Omicron, he warned of rising cases, a rise in hospitalisations, “and therefore”, he added, “sadly in deaths”.
The implication is clear — the variant is something to be wary of — but how the public is expected to respond remains unclear. Masks are essential, except when they’re not. The office is a risk, but the pub is… totally fine? It doesn’t stack up, and so hospitality is getting a kicking as the Government surreptitiously leaves them up the creek.
Little surprise that a public wary of a second cancelled Christmas is erring on the side of caution. Restaurants, previously packed to the rafters, are finding their bookings bottoming out during the days that matter most. “A nightmare before Christmas” hardly covers it.
The figures coming in are stark, and it’s hitting the market high and low. At the five-star Conrad London St. James, George Dean, manager of the hotel’s Blue Boar gastropub, reported 110 cancellations yesterday alone. Tom Cenci, who oversees food at both 26 Grains and Stoney Street, told me: “As soon as they announced the work from home order, we lost 70 per cent of our bookings.” It’s a similar story at The Sun Tavern, the Discount Suit Company bar, and Battersea wine bar Aspen & Meursault, which are all reporting bookings down by 60 to 65 per cent. Thousands of pounds gone. Says Aspen owner Sunny Hodge: “We’ve had a crazy tough week.” Quite. You get the idea, and I could go on — one Twitter shout-out garnered dozens of responses.
If the hospitality industry cannot eat before it hibernates, it won’t see the spring
The timing is the cruel thing, as Victor Garvey of Soho’s Michelin-starred Sola points out: “It’s mad to think we’re discussing this at what is supposed to be the most profitable time of our year.”
The implications for 2022 are frightening, especially with the start of the year typically quiet. Hodge says: “If the hospitality industry cannot eat before we hibernate, many of us won’t see past the winter.”
So far, so familiar — hospitality left to fend for itself. The Government could help: a freeze on the payments on business interruption and bounceback loans would be a start. Until then, it falls on us to help see places through. The economy of hospitality doesn’t include only chefs, barmen and waiters. There are landlords, there are suppliers. There are the cleaners and the laundry firms. There are the repairmen needed most weeks — something is always breaking — and the accountants working out how to pay for it all. There are those programming booking systems. There are cloak room attendants. Some clubs still have “no spray, no lay” guys in the loos. There are training schemes helping skill up the homeless, the addicts, the lost. Hospitality feeds many mouths.
Until the Government pulls itself together, both old favourites and new places are at risk, and the risk looks set to rise if restrictions are further tightened. Not everywhere is failing — it would be misleading to say it’s happening to everyone — but it’s time to muck in for those on the edge. Delivery boxes are back, wine subscription services are go. Places will be scrambling; some may shift excess stock over social media. Not much of this comes cheap — we know that from last time — but that’s just the way of it. If you love somewhere, let them know. Pitch in. Buy something. Restaurants, pubs, bars — they need you.
