Hospitality support package ‘not enough’
HOSPITALITY businesses have criticised a new multi-millionpound support package aimed at countering the impact of the new coronavirus restrictions as “simply not enough”.
Economy Minister Vaughan Gething on Thursday announced details of £120m worth of funding, which will be available for retail, hospitality, leisure and tourism businesses and their supply chains.
However, the response from the hospitality trade was that this would not come close to making up the losses they face because of the new restrictions which are due to start in 48 hours’ time.
A revised version of alert level two was introduced from 6am yesterday which means nightclubs must close. The rules will also mean a general requirement of two-metre social distancing in all premises open to the public and workplaces, where reasonable, and that the rule of six will apply to gatherings in regulated premises, such as hospitality, cinemas and theatres.
All licensed premises will need to take additional measures to protect customers and staff, including table service and collecting contact details. Face coverings will be required in hospitality settings at all times, apart from when seated.
Outdoor events will be limited to 50 people, with 30 indoors, but numbers able to attend events such as weddings, civil partnerships, funerals and wakes will be determined by the size of the venue.
Under the new financial support package from Welsh Government, retail, hospitality, leisure and tourism businesses which pay nondomestic rates will be entitled to a payment of £2,000, £4,000 or £6,000 depending on their rateable value. To be eligible, businesses will need to re-register their details online with their local authority from the week starting January 10 to receive their payments.
This support is also being extended to non-essential retail, so smaller shops and travel agents will be supported.
Hospitality and leisure businesses plus their supply chains will also be able to apply for top-up funding from a new Economic Resilience Fund (ERF) from the week commencing January 17. Eligible businesses can apply for grants of £2,500-£25,000, with funding dependent on their size and number of employees.
Councils will also administer a discretionary fund for businesses and sole traders who do not pay rates. The fund will provide £500 to sole traders, freelancers and taxi drivers, and £2,000 to employing businesses in impacted sectors.
Mr Gething said: “A wave of infections caused by the new, fast-moving and very infectious Omicron variant is headed our way. This means taking early action to try and control its spread and limit the impact on Welsh businesses.
“Since the start of the pandemic, we’ve provided over £2.2bn of support to businesses throughout Wales to help them manage their way through difficult circumstances.
“We will continue to monitor the impact of the spread of Omicron on businesses in Wales and will consider whether additional emergency funding is needed in the new year.”
But those working within hospitality said that the payments offered would not match what such businesses would usually generate during one of their busiest times of the year.
Steve Lewis, owner of Breaking Brands, which runs recognised names in Swansea such as Marco Pierre White, Coyote Ugly and Jack Murphys, said: “We think it’s not even close. The timing of it – the cash we take is daily, so to be told we can apply for [ERF] grants from January 17, which normally takes 30 days to process, you’re looking at the middle of February. The £6,000 to cover December’s lost bookings – that doesn’t cover one evening over Christmas. They should probably add a nought if they were going to cover the December period.
“It puts a strain on cashflow, and a lot of our staff are on hourly contracts. If we’re cutting them back and there’s no furlough scheme, how are the staff supposed to survive in the beginning of January?”
Gary Lulham, managing director of Sin City nightclub in Swansea, said: “In short, I do not think it’s enough. I won’t be able to pay my staff anywhere near the amount they would have received under a furlough scheme. If I were to do that, the business wouldn’t survive, we would go under, or I would have to make all my staff redundant. If these restrictions were to proceed longer than three or four weeks and we were to get into a second month with no further support than that, then we are going to be in exactly the same position.”
Bruno Nunes owns Creative Hospitality Group which operates venues in Cardiff and Swansea including Peppermint, Bambu, Brewdog Swansea and Brewstone. He is “urgently” seeking clarity to reassure his employees and to safeguard jobs after December 27.
He said the £120m earmarked to help the hospitality sector and other sectors is “simply not enough”.
He added: “I am at a loss as to how Welsh Government can justify closing a whole sector and placing extreme limitations on hospitality without clear evidence on the new variant and how it will impact society.”
Mr Gething explained how he believed that introducing these restrictions now, before “significant harm is caused”, was the “right choice”.
If the situation deteriorates, however, the Economy Minister made it clear he felt furlough was the “best answer”.
In an interview with the BBC, he said: “If the harm increases then we have a really practical challenge because furlough is the best answer to prevent the sort of catastrophic loss of jobs and businesses. But furlough can only be introduced if the UK Government do that.”