Business

'Give us the money' as hospitality suffers worst trading in living memory

The north's hospitality sector suffered its "worst trading performance in living memory" over Christmas and New Year, an industry survey has revealed
The north's hospitality sector suffered its "worst trading performance in living memory" over Christmas and New Year, an industry survey has revealed The north's hospitality sector suffered its "worst trading performance in living memory" over Christmas and New Year, an industry survey has revealed

AMID the latest Covid-19 restrictions, the north's hospitality sector suffered its "worst trading performance in living memory" over Christmas and New Year, with revenues down more than 50 per cent at half of all businesses, an industry survey has revealed.

And the sector is now calling on the Stormont Executive to provide its promised financial assistance, insisting that “time is of the essence for many businesses' survival”.

A grant scheme worth £40 million to support the sector was announced on December 23, aimed at benefitting around 3,200 hospitality businesses with one-off grants of between £10,00 and £20,000.

But so far that money hasn't filtered through, and many businesses are now facing potential collapse.

The latest survey undertaken on behalf of Hospitality Ulster showed:

:: Almost all members have been negatively affected by the government messaging on limiting contacts and the additional restrictions introduced on December 22 and brought in on December 26 following the emergence of the Omicron strain;

:: At least one in two members have seen sales fall by more than 50 per cent in the week commencing December 27;

:: More than twice as many members are reporting a drop in beverage and food sales of more than 50 per cent in the week commencing December 27 compared to November 15, when the Covid passports were first introduced in Northern Ireland.

Hospitality Ulster chief executive Colin Neill said: “This has been the worst performance for the hospitality sector in living memory.

“The trading position has continued to deteriorate and the last seven to eight weeks has possibly been the worst period in the entire pandemic. This should have been the time of year that trade is swift, but it has almost ground to a halt due to the restriction and fear of the spread of the Omicron variant.”

He added: “Time is of the essence as further debt is building in the early months of the new year. In normal circumstances a good Christmas period would have taken care of the vast majority of the bills, but this was not the case last year, and certainly not the case this year.

“It is evident that financial support and a dedicated recovery strategy is now vital as we are in a period of market failure, facing the potential collapse of many businesses.”

“Whilst it is disappointing that the latest financial support package has been delayed, we are in regular contact with government officials and are hopeful that the much needed financial assistance will be distributed to business owners across the hospitality sector in the next couple of weeks.

“We will meet Economy Minister Gordon Lyons to highlight the need to include hotels in the latest round of financial support, as many are food and beverage led, and are suffering the same impact of market failure. We are also working with government officials to secure additional financial support for nightclubs that are now legally required to close.

“And as soon as the infection rate peaks, the Executive must make the decision to remove the punitive restrictions and support the industry as it rebuilds over the coming months and years.”