UKHospitality Cymru has called for increased financial support and the lifting of restrictions on the trade to prevent Welsh hospitality closures and job losses.
Urgent calls from the trade body came after UKHospitality England stated pubs lost an average of £10,335 over the Christmas period while overall trade on Christmas Day was down by 60% when compared with the same period in 2019.
Festive flop
UKHospitality Cymru executive direction David Chapman said: “Across the board, enforced sub-viable trading and the associated cautionary climate has fuelled a festive flop in our pubs, restaurants, hotels and wider hospitality.
“A disastrous Christmas and New Year under the latest restrictions has left many facing a perilous financial position with grants falling way short of what is needed. In particular, retaining staff on current Government supports is unsustainable.
“Wales’ nightclubs are closed but are expected to keep a full staff roster, for maybe as long as two months, with a grant that doesn’t even amount to a busy night’s takings.”
Without a furlough scheme, the sector has experienced staff shortages during the pandemic, however hospitality still represents 10% of UK employment and is the 3rd largest private sector employer in the UK.
Damage to Welsh communities
Hospitality venues across England lost an average of £4,300 in draught beer and cider sales in the 14 days to 30 December 2021, which equated to 15m fewer pints being sold in the on-trade compared to 2019 figures, according to research from intelligence business The Oxford Partnership.
Chapman added: “Their English counterparts are reporting falling footfall and heavy losses even without the stringent additional set of restrictions being imposed in Wales - revenue is at least 25% lower than across the border at present.
“If financial support isn’t swiftly forthcoming, grave commercial impacts are inevitable, which will hugely damage communities across Wales”.
