Sacha Lord, Night Time Economy Adviser for Greater Manchester has reacted to leaked reports this morning regarding hospitality reopening dates:
“The leaked information today suggests multiple dates are being considered for the reopening of hospitality ranging April to August.
All options are a blow to the sector. We need urgent clarity, and to understand the financial support which will be in place to support businesses. The current packages, including VAT and furlough, are due to end March and April respectively and following these leaks today, operators cannot now wait a further two weeks until the Chancellor’s budget on March 3 to find out what is happening, both from a financial point of view and a mental health perspective.
We have pushed for hospitality to reopen at the same time as non-essential retail and I am disappointed this doesn’t appear to be under consideration. We understand the retail sector has struggled enormously during this pandemic, however hospitality venues across the UK have spent hundreds of thousands of pounds on ensuring venues are Covid secure and it could be argued they are the safest venues to reopen. I see no justification for them to be pushed aside and I will be asking the Government for the reasoning behind this.”
