Southampton hospitality sector braces for Covid Christmas losses

The Government has announced a Covid emergency after the discovery of the Omicron variant.

Now, the UK's hospitality sector is predicted a £4billion in festive sales with the new ‘work from home’ directive.

Gary Bennetton, owner of Southampton venues Orange Rooms and Switch, said: “The doom-mongering of the last week has already taken its toll on our Christmas trade even before the announcement of Plan B restrictions.

Orange Rooms, Southampton

"It is therefore no surprise that Plan B threatens to be an absolute disaster for the hospitality sector and further dampens already-fragile consumer sentiment. Our sector will be strangled without further economic support."

GO! Southampton, the city's Business Improvement District, has joined the call on behalf of the sector for urgent financial support to soften the blow.

It demands that unspent grants are made available, or that new alternatives such as a discretionary fund should be administered by local authorities.

Giles Semper, executive director of GO! Southampton said: "Throughout the pandemic hospitality businesses have ultimately suffered most. They have been closed more often than other businesses, subject to greater restrictions and have often been the last to receive financial support.

Giles Semper.

"The latest Plan B restrictions look set to hit them again in the crucial run-up to Christmas, with work-from-home restrictions in particular threatening Christmas parties and reducing customer confidence.

"We urge government to meet business halfway and introduce financial support such as a discretionary fund or the repurposing of The Additional Restrictions Grant fund and allocate to businesses most affected during the busiest time of the year. Without it, we can expect new closures on our high streets."

This call is further backed by British BIDs, The BID Foundation, Night Time Industries Association and the Association of Town and City Management who together collectively represent over 100,000 hospitality businesses.

Ross McNally, executive chairman of Hampshire Chamber of Commerce, said: “Exhausted employers have had nearly two years of trying to navigate this pandemic and thanks to their resilience, imagination and sheer hard work, many have begun to recoup losses, stabilise operations and turn their prospects around.

"Now, with these latest measures and the speed with which they are to be implemented, there are bound to be impacts on consumer and spending behaviour with a consequent risk to business confidence.

“It is therefore absolutely essential that the government now redoubles its efforts to provide a package of business support measures to help avoid more economic damage."