Shaken Not Broken fund urges support against £717m lost Christmas bookings

By Andrew Catchpole

Published: 25 November, 2020

With a £717m estimated loss in Christmas party bookings due to Covid-19, Campari UK and The Drinks Trust are calling on businesses to donate 5% of their annual party fund to support on-trade staff.

This latest initiative from Campari’s Shaken Not Broken fund, created in collaboration with The Drinks Trust, has been announced on the back of new research commissioned from Opinium which points to a 73% drop in the number of businesses planning to throw a festive bash in a hospitality venues this year.

According to the research, the proportion of businesses planning to hold parties in an on-trade venue has fallen from 71% in 2019 to just 19% this year, with 38% cancelling or postponing any celebrations, 18% choosing to hold a virtual event and 8% undecided.

These findings come against a backdrop of recent data from restaurant and pub trade bodies predicting that up to 750,000 hospitality jobs will be lost by February 2021, with 72% of operators fearing they may have to close their doors for good.

Many have already weighed in with support for this latest Shaken Not Broken fundraiser, with Wavemaker UK, The Craft Gin Club, Spinach Branding, Revolution Bars Group, HT Drinks and entrepreneur and TV Dragon Sarah Willingham donating to the cause.

“The unavoidable cancellation of a large number of work Christmas celebrations will place even more financial pressure on the hospitality industry, already struggling under the weight of reduced footfall, curfews and widespread lockdowns,” said Brad Madigan, managing director of Campari UK.

“Many hospitality venues have cut staff numbers, reduced staff hours considerably or, even worse, not re-opened at all since March – placing hundreds of thousands of staff on furlough or directly into unemployment. That’s why we’re calling on the UK business community to donate a small part of what they’ve saved from cancelling this year’s Christmas celebration events to the Shaken Not Broken Fund.”

Ross Carter, CEO of The Drinks Trust, added: “We are incredibly thankful to Campari UK for running this fantastic initiative aimed at raising valuable donations for The Drinks Trust and thank you also to all the companies that have already signed up to donate a proportion of their staff party spend for 2020.

“The impact these funds will have on the lives of our colleagues and friends in the drinks industry is significant, and we would encourage others to follow Campari UK’s lead by donating part of their Christmas party budget towards the Shaken Not Broken Fund and The Drinks Trust’s work.”

Companies can pledge their donation via The Drinks Trust website using Paypal and the reference SHAKEN, or by contacting marketing@drinkstrust.org.uk to request an invoice.

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