HIGH ST FACES DOOMSDAY
Disaster looms for shops, pubs and restaurants as PM says: Don’t go out
THOUSANDS of shops, pubs and restaurants face going bust after the Prime Minister’s coronavirus crackdown on socialising last night.
Boris Johnson urged the public to ‘avoid pubs, clubs, theatres and other such social venues’, saying ‘now is the time for everyone to stop non-essential contact with others’.
The guidelines mean the income of thousands of businesses could collapse overnight, forcing many to close, with the potential loss of hundreds of thousands of jobs.
Shops have already suffered a massive dropoff in customers as numbers fell by a third at the weekend. This continued yesterday, with the normally packed Bluewater shopping centre in Kent, for example, near empty.
The UK Government’s chief medical adviser Professor Chris Whitty has warned the crisis could last for ‘weeks or months’, adding: ‘This is going to be a marathon, not a sprint.’
Last night, a backlash was growing against the Government for failing to alleviate the strain on businesses that employ five million.
Experts said that without further help a string of household names on the high street, which will have to pay staff, rent, business rates and tax, will go out of business.
Kate Nicholls, of UK Hospitality, said: ‘This is catastrophic for businesses and jobs. The Government has effectively shut the hospitality industry without any support.
‘This announcement will lead to thousands of businesses closing their doors for good and hundreds of thousands of job losses.
‘The industry has suffered unprecedented drops in visits and many businesses are already on their knees. This latest advice leaves the industry in limbo.
‘The Government must act now to stop them going under and protect people’s jobs.’
Publicans warned many will not be protected by business interruption insurance because the Government had advised customers not to use their services, rather than putting firms into compulsory lockdown, as in countries including Ireland, France and Italy.
Writing on Twitter, Scots nightclub owner Donald MacLeod, who set up the National Licensed Trade Partnership, said: ‘Their [the Government’s] behaviour is insidious as it puts the onus of public safety responsibility on the publican – damned if he opens, completely screwed if he doesn’t.’
Chains such as Wetherspoons were last night holding crisis talks.
Retail expert Richard Hyman said: ‘We’ve never seen anything like it. Businesses are going to go to the wall and people will lose their jobs. The ramifications are more serious than the financial crisis.’
British Retail Consortium chief executive Helen Dickinson said: ‘Retailers face an uphill struggle. It is essential that the Treasury goes much further than the limited efforts outlined in the Budget.’
Last night, theatres across the country went dark, according to the Society of London Theatre and UK Theatre.
Julian Bird, chief executive of the groups, said: ‘Closing venues is not a decision taken lightly. It will have a severe impact on many of the 290,000 individuals in our industry.’
Emma McClarkin, chief executive of the British Beer and Pub Association, said: ‘The very existence of thousands of pubs and a lot more jobs is now at risk.
‘The Government needs to give
detail on the support package to rescue the sector and hundreds of thousands of jobs.’
Shares in shops, bars and restaurants plunged yesterday as bosses warned they were bracing for sales to drop by up to 50 per cent.
French Connection, which has 250 stores and franchises, is now worth only £7million, while Laura Ashley admitted it will go bust if it cannot secure £15million of emergency funding in the next two weeks.
Fashion retailer Urban Outfitters closed its 28 UK stores yesterday after similar moves by Apple, the outdoor shop Patagonia and Nike.
The rush at the supermarkets continued despite pleas for customers not to stockpile. John Lewis temporarily moved 500 staff from its department stores into Waitrose shops to help meet demand.
Labour MP Jess Phillips called on the Government to provide ‘detailed answers’ on how it would support businesses during the crisis.
She said: ‘Huge parts of my constituency rely on work in pubs and restaurants – it’s not enough to say don’t worry, it’ll be OK.
‘Where is the understanding that for my people this isn’t a Saturday job done by students?’