Pubs and restaurants swallow £10,000 losses in week before Christmas
Hospitality venues lost more than £10,000 on average in the week before Christmas, the latest data has revealed.
Christmas Day takings plunged 60 per cent for pubs, bars and restaurants, industry body UKHospitality found, as the latest Covid-19 wave saw ministers urging a cautious Christmas.
London’s hospitality scene has been hit the hardest, the industry body added, particularly in the city centre – with Brits flocking to market towns for their festive get-togethers instead.
The festive period can be a lifeline pubs, bars and restaurants, with December typically equal to around three months’ worth of trading, UKHospitality said.
The government has offered such venues grants of a maximum of £6,000 in cash, as part of a wider £1bn package, which sit well below their average losses.
Health minister Gillian Keegan yesterday defended the level of support venues were receiving, saying that “people are still going out”.
“I have been out a couple of times – my sister is over from the States, so we have been out to a couple of restaurants – and they have been pretty full,” Keegan told Sky News.
“So, you know, I’m obviously in London at the moment, but I think people are still going out, but they are just taking a lateral flow test before and obviously being a bit more cautious.”