Reopening just start of battle

Firms face fight for survival

WITH PRIME Minister Boris Johnson’s expected announcement today that the country’s hospitality sector can reopen from July 4 after months out of action, those firms which have survived the impact of the pandemic will already be well on within preparations to welcome back customers in a safe and common sense manner.

While official guidance is yet to be published, the example set by shops and supermarkets gives a good indicator of how risk can be minimised – although not entirely eliminated.

But while reaching the point of being able to reopen is a major achievement for many within Yorkshire’s hospitality industry who have had their livelihoods put on hold for months, the next major challenge will be managing to turn a profit and remain viable under the new restrictions on how they operate. This will be no easy task, especially as there will be substantial reductions on the numbers of customers inside one premises at any one time.

The scale of the challenge is spelt out by KPMG UK’s latest quarterly Economic Outlook, which warns that the continuing impact of the COVID-19 virus is expected to see Yorkshire’s economy contract by 7.1 per cent in 2020 – and most pertinently that the economy is unlikely to be able to fully restart until a vaccine or effective treatments for the virus are available.

The carefully-staged return of the hospitality sector is undoubtedly cause for good cheer – not least when you consider Yorkshire’s tourism industry alone is worth an estimated £9bn per year and supports 225,000 jobs – but there can be no illusions that life will be returning to normal any time soon.

With the furlough scheme being wound down in the coming months and the threat that this newest relaxation of rules will be the first to be reversed if the virus spreads more widely again, a tense few months lies ahead for countless businesses and employees across the country.