51% of operators call for roadmap review and acceleration, poll says
The Hospitality Leaders Poll, conducted by Lumina Intelligence, on behalf of The Morning Advertiser, MCA, Big Hospitality and Restaurant, included 172 operators, of which, a third (34%) stated it was too dangerous to reopen earlier, 12% were keen to reopen now and 3% were unsure.
It also asked respondents on their reaction to the Chancellor’s Budget at the beginning of the month (Wednesday 3 March).
Almost half (48%) were happy with support announced in the Budget, with 9% feeling neutral on the aid.
Support rank
A third (34%) stated it did not do enough given the length of lockdown and a further 8% said it didn’t do enough to enable businesses to survive.
Furthermore, respondents were asked to rank the support out of 10, with one being abysmal and 10 for outstanding.
The most popular answer was seven (24%) out of 10. A fifth (20%) chosen the middle option of five, 15% rated the aid as number eight.
Just over one in 10 (12%) ranked it at number six, 8% said four, 5% chose three and the same percentage chose eight and one. A further 2% ranked it as 10 out of 10 and 1% said zero.
State aid rise impact
The Government also announced a rise in the state aid cap from £3m to £10.9m and almost two thirds (63%) said this would have no impact on the level of support their businesses could access.
However, 15% said the increase would have a reasonable impact and 6% stated this would have a significant impact.
The poll has also asked respondents on their levels of confidence in the future of their business week on week.
In the latest edition, 41% were ‘quite confident’, almost a quarter (24%) were ‘confident’, one in 10 (10%) were ‘very confident’ and a further 24% were ‘confident’.
The overall percentage of those ‘confident’ was 76% - a rise of one percentage point on last week’s poll (75%).
