The heatwave has forced pubs and restaurants in England to close in avoid putting staff safety at risk, The Telegraph has reported.
Steve Alton, head of the British Institute of Innkeeping said many pubs felt they had no choice but to stay closed.
“They’re worried about their staff in these very, very hot kitchens and would rather not risk these hugely-valued employees so they’ve said they’re going to close to protect their teams,” he said.
Pub and restaurant closures were reported in Worcestershire, Liverpool, Cheltenham, Bristol and Nottingham.
Alton said that many venues did not have the cooling equipment needed for such extreme conditions - and those which do will face even higher energy costs at a time when food, drink and wage bills are also rocketing.
He said: “In kitchens, extraction and cooling equipment is absolutely critical because these places will be running incredibly hot, and owners will be trying desperately to keep these buildings in the right temperature range.”
The temperatures yesterday also saw a huge drop in office workers heading into central London with numbers of people on London’s streets down by 18% on Monday morning, compared to the previous week, according to data from Springboard.
