'People think life is back to normal but it's far from normal'

the hospitality sector in England is set to lose another £3bn as it is expected that the government will announce a four-week prolongation of restrictions beyond June 21st.

Over the weekend, the rumours that the government was likely to require businesses to continue operating with safety measures in place for another four weeks took shape, as did the reality that they would be leaving nightclubs and thousands of pubs, restaurants and cafes unable to open.

The Prime Minister is set to make an announcement in a press conference on BBC One at 6pm. It is thought that the restrictions will be extended for four weeks, with a two-week review of the data.

Will restrictions be lifted on June 21st?

The argument for pushing the June 21st date back four weeks ending July 19th is that the lifting of restrictions would then be able to be maintained permanently, giving businesses more assurances for the future.

This time would allow for all over-50s to have been offered a second dose of the Coronavirus vaccine, who as a group represent 99 percent of Covid deaths and 80 percent of hospitalisations. 

However, Tory backbenchers have joined calls from the hospitality and tourism industry representatives to push forward with the easing of restrictions for the chance to make up for fifteen months of lost earnings and save thousands of businesses. 

UK Hospitality leader Kate Nicholls said that the delay "would cost the sector £3bn," and would not be sustainable should the government fail to deploy additional support for businesses.

Speaking to Julia Hartley-Brewer on talkRADIO this morning, she said: "For many people life is broadly back to normal, they can carry on their normal activities. It is far from normal for the businesses that they are visiting because they are still subject to really strict restrictions." 

Operating at 60% capacity with social distancing and table service in place, she continued, "all of that means that these businesses are open and trading but they're trading at a loss, they're not breaking even." 

"That's on top of 15 months of loss-making, so they really are at the end of the road."

Meanwhile, calls for data-based justifications have seemingly fallen onto deaf ears - and though cases of Coronavirus are on an upward trend, no government report has been seen by the public which shows the correlation between hospitality settings and a higher infection rate.

I've spent the week bringing Leaders and Trade Associations of the most affected sectors together.

Hospitality
Events
Travel and Tourism
Weddings
Exhibitions
Aviation

Now one voice. We're ready and watching.

Data not dates.

— Sacha Lord (@Sacha_Lord) June 10, 2021

Whatever decision is reached by the government, leaving any restrictions in place means that businesses will require further support if they are to operate profitably in a near or distant future - as employer contributions to the furlough scheme, VAT repayments and business rates are set to come back into force on July 1st, and the rent moratorium is set to end. 

Nightclubs have now been fully closed for 15 months. Having been gearing up to finally reopen in a week- we are preparing to be told they must remain shut for at least another month. Surely you can’t now expect us to pay more towards rates and furlough from 1st July @RishiSunak?

— Charlie Gilkes (@charliegilkes) June 14, 2021