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Businesses and hospitality leaders hail Rishi Sunak's new multi-billion pound support package as a 'lifeline' - but many call for lifting of curfew and other restrictions to help further over winter

PA
PA

Businesses and hospitality industry leaders have welcomed a new multi-billion pound package of support from the Treasury and labelled it a "lifeline".

The ramped up funding, announced on Thursday, will see the Government double its wage subsidies in all sectors for workers forced to go part time under the new Job Support Scheme, which is set to replace furlough next week.

The new measures will also see a cash boost for bars and restaurants.

Grants of up to £2,100 a month will be available for bars and restaurants in Tier 2, where a combination of a 10pm curfew and a ban on meeting friends from other households has damaged trade.

The funding can be towards rent or salary bills, and amounts to seven-tenths of a £3,000 grant paid to firms ordered to close, such as London’s nightclubs.

In a particularly welcome move, the grant offer has been backdated to the date when Tier 2 restrictions were implemented.

Across the City and the 32 London boroughs currently in Tier 2 classified as high-alert, there are 3,640 pubs, 7,556 restaurants, 238 wine bars, 1,553 hotels and guest houses, 26 casinos and 98 cinemas which could be eligible for the new grants, according to real estate adviser Altus Group.

Kate Nicholls of UK Hospitality immediately welcomed the news, saying that the measures would “help safeguard hundreds of thousands of jobs”, and “provide a crucial lifeline for businesses struggling with low footfall and ongoing costs”.

She said: “This is a hugely generous package of support and very welcome news just when we needed it.

“This gives businesses a much-enhanced chance of being able to overcome the challenges and survive into 2021, to sustain businesses so they can begin to recover next year and play a vital role in helping boost the economy.

“It is encouraging to see the Government listening to and understanding the plight of hospitality, which is dire. We are pleased to see that the measures extend to hotels and B&Bs, too.”

Preston Benson, founder of the Really Local Group, a business working to regenerate high streets largely through establishing independent cinemas, said that “at this stage financial support from the government is a lifeline”. He said: "Today’s announcement is a significant step forward in allowing the hospitality industry to secure more than 200,000 jobs across London and one that was crucially needed across the sector."

Matt Grech-Smith, co-chief executive of Competitive Socialising, the company behind crazy golf club Swingers, welcomed the measures but said that businesses still face an uphill battle this winter.

"Steering a hospitality business right now is a bit like having your hands and feet tied, but being expected to swim. Rishi just lobbed a life jacket in our general direction. It may or may not help," he said.

The founder pointed out that he has already had to make redundancies when there was "no clarity about the future" and any support yet to come.

He said that as most of the measures support staff not working, rather than his now-reduced team attempting to keep venues afloat with social distancing and smaller numbers of patrons, a lessening of trading restrictions - including the end to the 10pm curfew - "would be of more benefit".

Earlier this week an alliance of restaurateurs, business leaders and politicians called on the Government to scrap the “pointless” 10pm curfew, saying it was damaging already stymied trade further.

While Sunny Hodge, owner of Elephant & Castle wine bar, Diogenes The Dog, echoed his sentiments.

Hodge said: “At this point, handouts can’t last forever and are not what hospitality needs. All I would ask for is for hospitality to have the ability to stand on its own two feet again. Curfews and measures aimed predominantly at hospitality do not allow this."

HospoDemo, a new campaign group including celebrity chefs including Yotam Ottolenghi, posted on Twitter to say "while it’s encouraging that the government has listened to us and responded quickly on Tier 2, let us be clear: today’s announcement is just a small step in the right direction".

The group said that the sector needs an "introduction of rent relief and an urgent review of the 10pm curfew, to avoid a tsunami of insolvencies and associated job losses" in addition to the measures.

The British Beer & Pub Association, the leading trade association representing brewers and pubs, added that further support was still needed for brewers and those in the supply chain that serve pubs.

Chief executive, Emma McClarkin, said: “This necessary and welcome support package will help thousands of pubs with tier two restrictions who otherwise faced devastation to their businesses.

“The impact of restrictions has been immediate and deep on our sector, requiring an extensive response from Government.”

It was the fifth package of measures from Rishi Sunak since March (REUTERS)
It was the fifth package of measures from Rishi Sunak since March (REUTERS)

Adam Marshall, director general at the British Chambers of Commerce labelled the measures “a very significant improvement in the support available to businesses struggling with the impact of increasing restrictions across the UK”.

While Richard Burge, chief executive of London Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said that although businesses will "need to study the detail" of the plans, "it’s good to see that the Chancellor continues to be responsive to business needs as this crisis progresses".

"At face value, firms will welcome today’s intervention and its suitability to the current climate," he said. “London’s hospitality sector will however still be hoping that in light of Tier 2 restrictions, the basis for the 10pm curfew is reassessed.”

In his fifth package of help offered since March, Mr Sunak also doubled help available for the self-employed.

The funding money for Tier 2 firms, including restaurants, is alone expected to cost “hundreds of millions”.

The level of employer contribution companies must make to receive wage subsidies for their workers on the JSS was cut to 5% down from 33% - making it much cheaper to keep employees on.

Analysis from the New Economic Foundation had suggested that cutting the level of employer contribution from 33% to even 10% could save an additional 1.4 million jobs.

“I’ve always said that we must be ready to adapt our financial support as the situation evolves, and that is what we are doing today,” the Chancellor said. “These changes mean that our support will reach many more people and protect many more jobs.”

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