10pm curfew is ‘out of touch with reality’ – CEO

CHAMBER members in the hospitality sector have branded Boris Johnson’s 10pm curfew on pubs, bars and restaurants as “slightly lazy and out of touch with reality’

From today, all pubs, bars and restaurants must operate table service only (except for takeaways), with a 10pm cut-off.

The requirement to wear face coverings has also been extended to staff in retail, all users of taxis and private hire vehicles and staff and customers in indoor hospitality.

Sam Morgan, group chief executive of We Are Craft Limited, said: “The good news is that the impact is less than what potentially could have been imposed – for example the measures still allow for people to dine in respect of the rule of six.

“I do, however, feel the curfew of 10pm is a slightly lazy and out-oftouch with reality, restriction.

“I have said many times that hospitality is not one sector.

“It’s five sectors and the segment of hospitality that the curfew is designed to impact on has no relevance or connection to that of the other sectors in the hospitality. However the impact spreads unintentionally onto those that have been operating safely.

“This blanket curfew is, therefore, a slightly blunt, lazy instrument to tackle a reported problem area for which innocent parties will suffer.

“Having said that, I feel that as proactive leaders we should not spend any time complaining about the measures, as the chances are this will have little impact on change.

“In times of struggle it’s paramount that we can try and adapt and ask our guests for their assistance in adapting to support such matters only then can the hospitality sector survive the wave that it is currently riding.”

The Prime Minister has faced a barrage of calls to extend the furlough scheme following this week’s announcement, and Sir Keir Starmer, the Labour Party leader, implored Mr Johnson in the Commons on Wednesday: “when is the Prime Minister finally going to act?” Mr Johnson said: “Of course the government is going to come forward with further measures. These are indeed tough times and I have no doubt that many businesses, many employees are feeling a great deal of anxiety and uncertainty and we will do our level best to protect them throughout this period.”

Chancellor Rishi Sunak is reportedly working on a new German-style scheme to avoid mass unemployment once furlough ends, with the Government and firms sharing the cost of topping up wages for employees only able to work part-time due to the pandemic.