The government has launched a new ‘hospitality strategy’ to help the sector recover after lockdown and inspire more British people to choose it as a career. The move includes a dedicated council to oversee the delivery of the strategy, which will be co-chaired by the Prezzo executive chair Karen Jones, and the business minister Paul […]

UKHospitality has “unreservedly welcomed” the Government announcement of new rules to ring-fence Covid-19 commercial rent arrears and the extension of measures to protect commercial tenants from evictions to March next year. The extensions to moratoria on commercial evictions and to debt recovery actions, and the introduction of an arbitration process to guide settlements between landlords […]

Pubs and restaurants have reported a huge sales boost after reopening following the easing of lockdown restrictions. Such enthusiasm and dynamism makes for happy reading. Data from research consultancy CGA found that reopened managed venues’ average sales were 24.9 per cent higher than on the equivalent Monday in May 2019. Yes, 2019 – not 2020. […]

Probably the biggest issue facing the hospitality industry since reopening is staff shortages. The problem has already been widely reported. Simply, Brexit and the pandemic have together led to a mass exodus of skilled workers, most notably chefs. When lockdown hit, an industry largely reliant on EU workers saw tens of thousands of staff head […]

Greater Manchester’s night-time economy adviser Sacha Lord has confirmed he will take his legal challenge against the Government to the High Court, where it will face a judicial review. Lord is looking to bring forward the reopening of the hospitality sector in England to 12 April, when non-essential retail will be allowed to reopen. Lord […]

Around three-quarters of hospitality businesses will be planning large-scale recruitment drives this year, a new CGA survey said. Research that pooled responses from 726 operators across the sector found 44 per cent would be looking to embark on hiring programs that will see the induction of the same amount of new staff, or more, than […]

There will be a second hospitality demonstration next month as the industry battles on for a fairer deal. HospoDemo will return to London’s Westminster for another protest in December, having marched in October with around 600 hospitality workers. Last time, the likes of Fergus Henderson, Tom Aikens, and Yotam Ottolenghi gathered to express their outrage […]

The Bangkok-based Compass Hospitality group will next year launch a new scholarship programme alongside the University of Hull. The programme, set to get going in January, will cater to both undergraduate and postgraduate students, and scholarships will have a total value of £60,000 and tailored to support those who need financial assitance. Students will be […]

Hospitality trade bodies have called on the government to produce a six-month investment plan to provide better assurance across the industry. Simply, pubs, restaurants, and bars want some formulation of a long-term strategy, with policies changing as quickly as pints are (or were) poured. In a letter to the chancellor, UKHospitality, the British Beer and […]

More than 22,000 hospitality jobs are believed to have been lost so far in 2020, more than double the total number recorded last year. Figures compiled by the Centre for Retail Research (CRR) reveal 22,039 restaurant and casual dining sector positions have been lost in the sector, up 95.4 per cent on the 11,280 in […]