Business groups warned that the introduction of vaccine passports for larger venues and a new work-from-home order will be a “body blow” to bars, restaurants and nightclubs that had been relying on Christmas trading to recover lost revenues.
UK prime minister Boris Johnson announced fresh restrictions in England on Wednesday to slow the spread of the Omicron coronavirus variant.
Craig Beaumont, chief of external affairs at the Federation of Small Businesses, said the measures would be a “body blow” to a hospitality industry already struggling after successive lockdowns.
Bar and restaurant owners describe the weeks in the run-up to Christmas as the “golden quarter” when the industry makes most of its profits from spending on parties and drinks in the festive period.
Beaumont said the requirement for vaccine passports will subdue demand, while the instruction for office staff to work from home would mean fewer people in towns and cities to support local businesses. Masks will also be expected to be worn at many more indoor venues from Friday.
“It’s a double whammy. Christmas parties are already being cancelled, but this could turn the lights out for many struggling hospitality businesses.”
Michael Kill, chief executive of the Night Time Industries Association, which represents the night-time sector, said that “nightclubs and bars have been thrown under the bus by the prime minister for him to save his own skin”.
The new restrictions come after widespread anger over a Christmas party allegedly held at Number 10 last year, when the UK was under lockdown.
“The pre-Christmas period is absolutely crucial for our sector . . . far from ‘saving’ Christmas, the prime minister has given our sector the horrible present of more pain for businesses desperately trying to recoup losses from earlier in the pandemic,” Kill said.
“You do have to question the timing and rationale for this announcement. Is this sound evidence-based public policymaking, or is this an attempt to move the news agenda on from a damaging story about the Downing Street Christmas party?”
Nick Mackenzie, chief executive of pub group Greene King, said that bookings had “definitely fallen away” adding that he had seen “some loss of consumer confidence even though in reality no restrictions have been placed on pubs”.
Some office employers have already begun to reverse instructions to their staff to come back to the workplace.
Ross Mitchinson, co-chief executive at Numis, which has had 70 to 80 per cent of staff back to its London office, said the move would “change our plans, as we will follow the government guidelines . . . the good news is we have done it before and have proven to be able to operate effectively in a [work-from-home] scenario”.
Ashmore, a UK-based fund manager, had already told staff this week that they could again work from home until early January, according to a person familiar with the situation. Ashmore declined to comment.
Until last month, ministers had been urging people to return to their workplaces, in part to support local businesses in urban centres.
One business leader described the rapid turn of policymaking and lack of a government warning as “deeply unhelpful” and “really disruptive” to industries that were still coming to terms with the last round of restrictions.
Additional reporting by Alice Hancock
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