‘£100m pandemic blow’ to Wimbledon firms
WIMBLEDON’S shops, bars, restaurants and hotels are facing a battle to “weather the storm” of this year’s cancelled Championships and the wider lockdown, a business leader has warned.
Adrian Mills, the chairman of the Wimbledon Village Business Association, said estimates that small companies based around the All England Lawn Tennis Club will be facing a £100 million economic hit in 2020 were “stark” — but “not far off reality”. He said the association had lost a “substantial” five-figure sum from advertising flags placed along the main village road, money that usually went to supporting local firms. Pub landlords have told him anecdotally they were expecting to “take about £4million less than this time last year” because of closure due to the pandemic, as well as the cancellation of the tennis and the Euro 2020 football tournament. Mr Mills said: “There is a sense of bereavement in the village. It is strange for businesses that are usually flat out at this time of year. Being this quiet will have a huge knock-on impact. It will be in September when landlords need their rent for the third quarter. That is when most will feel it.”
Joanna Doniger, owner of housing rental firm Tennis London, rents four-bedroom houses in Wimbledon Village for up to £10,000 a week. She said: “The week before the Championships is the busiest of my year. This year I will earn no money. And neither will the owners of the houses.”