Rt Hon Rishi Sunak MP, Chancellor of the Exchequer
23 December 2021
Dear Chancellor,
Re: Support for larger hospitality firms and retail
We welcome your support package for leisure and hospitality businesses announced earlier this week but are concerned that it does not yet go far enough to meet the need of many larger business in the hospitality sector nor retail businesses in general which, in central London and other city centres, have been hit hard by the collapse in demand caused by spread of the omicron variant.
Taking hospitality first, there are many large restaurants in central London — and other city centres — which have been losing over £100,000 in revenue per week since the new variant took hold in December. These businesses are large employers who will not be helped by a maximum grant of £6,000. Ten restaurants employing 10 people each will be eligible to claim £60,000 yet one business employing 100 people is capped at £6,000. We would urge you to address this and provide meaningful support for such businesses as a matter of urgency; and to ensure such support flows through into any new measures implemented when the Government reviews the rules and guidance later this month. We would also encourage you to provide full business rates relief into the next financial year and to deepen and extend the VAT reduction.
Turning to retail, many businesses in city centres across the UK have seen dramatic reductions in footfall and sales in what should be their busiest trading period. This will leave them with unsold stock — and unpaid bills — in January. We would urge you to make similar provisions for these businesses as need to be extended to hospitality. It is also critical that, should restrictions tighten further, announcements of additional support across sectors are in lockstep to avoid leaving businesses and their employees in limbo.
Without such support, many sound businesses whose balance sheets have been hit hard by the last eighteen months will face a very bleak New Year, unable to invest in driving growth and — in the worst cases — unable to continue trading.
Yours sincerely,
Penny Alexander, Chief Executive, Baker Street Quarter Partnership
Paul Barnes, Chief Executive, Association of International Retail
Charles Begley, Chief Executive, London Property Alliance
Richard Burge, Chief Executive, London Chamber of Commerce and Industry
John Dickie, Chief Executive, London First (Co-chair, Let’s do London Business Board)
Bernard Donoghue, Director, ALVA — The Association of Leading Visitor Attractions
Nic Durston, Chief Executive, South Bank Employers’ Group and South Bank BID
Rowena Howie, Greater London Representative, Federation of Small Businesses
Alexander Jan, Chairman, Central District Alliance BID and Hatton Garden BID
Michael Kill, Chief Executive, Nighttime Industries Association
Ros Morgan, Chief Executive, Heart of London Business Alliance (Co-chair, Let’s do London Business Board)
Simon Pitkeathley, Chief Executive, Camden Town Unlimited
Jace Tyrrell, Chief Executive, New West End Company