As the UK’s hospitality sector braces itself for a huge hit in Christmas revenues due to new Covid restrictions, Westside BID has joined national calls for urgent financial support.
Hospitality bosses believe reintroducing the ‘work from home’, face masks and vaccine passports guidance will diminish consumer confidence, resulting in widespread cancellations of bookings during the critical festive trading period.
Westside BID has now backed UK Hospitality’s calls for urgent financial support to soften the blow through full business rates relief, grants, rent protection and extended VAT reductions.
The calls also include redirecting unspent grants available to the sector or by introducing new alternatives such as a discretionary fund to be administered by local authorities.
Kate Nicholls, chief executive of UKHospitality, said: “The measures announced this week will significantly impact consumer confidence and be particularly devastating to city and town centre venues.
“As such, they risk devastating the hospitality sector amid its most important time of the year.
“We therefore desperately need support if we are to survive this latest set of restrictions and urge the government to stand behind our industry.
“That means full business rates relief, grants, rent protection and extended VAT reductions. Anything less would prove catastrophic.”
Mike Olley, general manager of Westside BID, said: “The new government guidelines are a triple-whammy for entertainment venues in and around Birmingham’s ‘golden mile’.
“Day time trading will be hit by businesses shifting back to working from home guidance, and the latest face mask guidance will confuse customers and hit their confidence.
“The Covid passport will also be difficult to near impossible to administer as venues are already fully stretched at providing quality door and venue security for customers.
“Having to spend extr time checking every customer’s phone for their Covid vaccinations records will be a nightmare, and will lead to queues, frustration and a further hit to confidence.
“As a result, we full back UKHospitality’s calls and demand that the government provides urgent financial support to help entertainment venues cope with these impositions.
“The government must realise that it is the entertainment industries that have borne the brunt of restrictions over the past 18 months, and now they are being asked to do more of the same.
“Christmas is a crucial time for venues on Westside, as people visit theatres, bars, nightclubs and restaurants to celebrate the season.
“These venues being forced to change their guidance to audiences deserve support for any loss of income.”
