Punch Taverns founder: Hospitality will be ‘almost completely uninvestable’ should Covid restrictions return
Pizza Express guru Hugh Osmond has said the hospitality industry will be “almost completely uninvestable” if it is put in a position where the government can completely shut it down in future virus outbreaks.
The Punch Taverns founder is part of a coalition, with Night Time Industry Association boss Michael Kill and Greater Manchester night tsar Sacha Lord, calling for a section on hospitality to be added to the Covid inquiry.
“If it becomes the default option to close down hospitality, there is no way it will survive in its current form,” Osmond, who helped launch the flotation of PizzaExpress in 1993, told CityA.M.
Chiefs called for table service, the ‘substantial meal’ rule and the Eat Out to Help Out scheme to be addressed by the inquiry.
They also said a framework must be produced to assess whether future proposed restrictions are justifiable.
“[Hospitality] was front and centre of measures everytime,” Osmond added, arguing the importance of a dedicated section of the inquiry.
In a joint statement, Kill, Osmond and Lord said: “The importance of the timing of such a report is crucial; if the Inquiry waits until the end of its process before producing a report, further waves of Covid may have hit, and it may already be too late for the sector to recover.”
The inquiry should also probe “the level of understanding of the industry demonstrated by decision-makers during the pandemic,” the trio said.
Last spring, Lord and Osmond lost a legal battle urging the government to reopen hospitality venues for indoor dining at the same time as retail.
The duo had argued there had been no scientific evidence to justify a delayed reopening of indoor hospitality.