Companies face 'rocky road to recovery'

The hotel and catering organisations UKH, BBPA and BII have warned that businesses have many steps to take to recover from the devastating effects from the Pandemic, which occurred for many players after the first trading week since restrictions were lifted.

Results of the recent CGA member survey of all three major professional trade associations revealed that only 40% of pubs welcome back customers to their outdoor rooms, with the figure likely to be just 29% of all the revenues made within the same period of 2019.

While the public have pleaded for the lockdown rules to be relaxed, which would allow them to reconnect safely at pub pubs across the UK, all three industry associations are warning that the majority of businesses are still at very real risk of failure.

That was despite spending hundreds of millions of pounds on exterior and security, at an average of over £8,000 per site.

It's estimated that even if step 3 of the roadmap permits indoor food and drink for six, or even two, households to eat and drink, they generate only 56% of the revenue, compared to pre-pandemic figures.

Almost a quarter of respondents expect that their business will not be profitable until the end of the year, based on up-to-date trade estimates.

The trade organisations are calling for business rates to be scrapped altogether in the UK by October 2021 to give businesses time to recover before further costs come back into the trails.

That is another three months on, with rates being tipped to start rising again in July.