Hospitality industry will be among the last to exit the lockdown

Michael Gove confirmed yesterday that restaurants, pubs and hotels will be among the last to ‘exit the lockdown’.

Speaking on the Andrew Marr Show, he said: “There are a number of things which we need to do in order to be confident we can relax measures.”

The Government is taking ‘a deliberately cautious and measured approach’ and asked if areas of hospitality would reopen before winter he said: “We want to make sure we make a balanced judgement about which restrictions can be relaxed at what time.”

He added: “We need to reduce the rate of infection in the population and the number of deaths needs to be falling – only once we are certain all of these factors are in place can some of the current measures be relaxed.”

Kate Nicholls from UKHospitality tweeted in response: “If this is the case then the government needs to start working with the sector on detailed support - beyond what is currently provided - to allow this. This means extending hospitality grants to all, extended furlough, action on rents.”

Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme online portal

The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme online portal opened today, with April's payday fast approaching, business groups say it is essential that the application process runs smoothly. The Treasury says funds to pay workers will land in a company's bank account within six working days.

You can access the portal here.