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UKH says wet-led pub grant not even a token gesture

The payment, which was announced by Johnson yesterday afternoon during a debate in parliament on the new tier restrictions, will be made this month as England comes out of lockdown and re-enters a tier system.  

“We have already put in place a huge package of support, including the extension of the furlough scheme but we are going further with a one-off £1,000 payment in December to wet-led pubs,” said Johnson. 

Moreover, he said the government would also work with the hospitality sector to “help it bounce back next year”.

“I think everyone in this chamber shares the anguish the hospitality sector has suffered. Our pubs, hotels and restaurants are at the heart of our communities and the fabric of our society and we will do everything in our power to support the sector.”

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer labelled the payment as “small beer”, while UK Hospitality (UKH) said the one-off payment did not even count as "a token gesture”. 

“Equivalent to just 1.1% of last year’s takings, it falls far short of the bare minimum required to keep these businesses alive,” said CEO Kate Nicholls.

“The government’s entire approach to this lacked any sliver of logic, as evidenced by the farcical debate around Scotch eggs over the past 24 hours. There needs to be a much clearer and supportive approach from the government and this means providing far more support immediately,” she said.

Nicholls also warned that the new tier system condemned nine out of 10 hospitality businesses to being unviable by the New Year.

“This is not just a threat to community wet led pubs but also neighbourhood restaurants independent hotels, nightclubs and other hospitality venues who are now staring failure in the face. The sector will lose £8bn of revenue in December and bear £0.3bn of costs of closure and restricted trading.

“The government’s own figures say a third of businesses are at risk of insolvency. This jeopardises over a million jobs and threatens collapse across the supply chain,” she said.