to the new restrictions. Both chefs confirmed that every time the rules change cancellations happen instantly.
Robin said: “We’re already struggling with having to police people wearing masks in restaurants. The restrictions are causing a lot of confusion and distress to staff. They are having to deal with customers and tell them what they can and can’t do and that’s not hospitality.
“We want to welcome people to the restaurant to have a good time, we are in hospitality not hospitals. We are doing everything we are asked to keep everyone safe, but customers are still confused and they are taking it out on our teams.
“The knock-on effect is customers are just not confident in going out anymore. So, naturally restaurants are going to get quieter which will result in job losses – it’s very frustrating.
“How do we police households not mixing, do we have to interrogate them as they come in just to check?”
Tom added: “There’s enough pressure and stress on the industry already and it’s us who suffer business-wise because people will be put off from going out.”
Reacting to the announcement, Kate Nicholls from UKHospitality tweeted: “This could well be the death knell for many hospitality businesses - a move into Tier 2 wipes a further 15% off very low revenues (just 20-30% in London) and many closing fully under Tier 3 will not recover. Support measures urgently needed to avoid mass redundancies.”
Adding: “Catastrophic announcement for London hospitality which is seeing revenues drop by between 60-85% making jobs unviable without additional support - facing mass redundancies from end of the month unless fictional rethinks end of furlough for hospitality.”
