UKHospitality welcomes plans of UK reopening

Thursday, July 8, 2021

UKHospitality has welcomed a decision by Prime Minister Boris Johnson to lift virtually all remaining Covid-19 restrictions in England from July 19. Under the plans, venues will be able to return to full capacity, night clubs will reopen as sports stadiums will be able to welcome larger crowds. Johnson said a final decision on taking the final step out of lockdown will be taken on July 12, but this is seen as a virtual formality.

Following the announcement Kate Nicholls, Chief Executive, UKHospitality, said in a statement that his announcement marks a major milestone in how England will come to live with Covid and will be celebrated by hospitality business owners and their staff across the country. She mentioned that for the vast majority of hospitality businesses, July 19, if confirmed next week will be the first time in 16 months that they have been able to realistically look to break even and move towards profitability.

She said that the progress is testament to the constructive and positive work that have been undertaken with government, to pave the way for this timely handing over of responsibility, shifting from enforced legal requirements to an onus on personal and business responsibilities, to ensure that safeguarding staff and customers in the tried and tested ways is continued.

She added that hospitality businesses will continue to provide safe and enjoyable experiences into the summer and beyond and, in doing so, will also safeguard jobs, livelihoods and the venues. She mentioned that in order to do so, venues will need autonomy to act according to their own risk assessments, without local authority gold-plating, and a workable test and trace system that does not demand blanket self-isolation like the test to remain-style system, to ensure that the staff can be protected but traded with sufficient teams.

She said that it comes as welcome news that hospitality venues will soon be able to cast off the restrictions that have heavily constrained commercially. However, she also said that the sector has been at the forefront of developing and implementing health and safety measures and initiatives throughout the pandemic and will continue to do so, in order to trade back to prosperity and help drive the national recovery. She stated that it will still be a long road back for businesses that have been forced to take on debt just to survive, especially with the reintroduction of business rates payments.

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