Second lockdown would see one in three operators go bust - Hospitality Leaders Poll

A second lockdown would see one in three hospitality businesses go under, according to the latest weekly Hospitality Leaders Poll by MCA Insight/HIM.

It found that 31% of operators said in the event of a second lockdown they would not survive. A further 44% said they didn’t know.

On a more positive note, one in four operators said they would be able to survive another period of lockdown.

When it comes to rent, when asked if they planned to make their July rent payment, 42% delivered a flat no. “The only thing that can help us at this point is for the government to force landlords to take a fair share of the pain,” said one operator.

“The very minimum this can be must be waving a whole rent quarter, or a 50% reduction on two rent quarters, which equates to the same.”

Another 24% were undecided about whether they would be able to pay rent, but 34% said they did plan to pay.

Meanwhile in terms of the long term future for their businesses, 33% said they were “not confident” about the future. However a combined 67% are more optimistic, with 42% feeling “quite confident”, 15% feeling “confident” and 4% feeling “very confident” about the future.

However, the ongoing uncertainty and lack of clarity emerging from the government is causing serious issues for the industry. One operator said the government “needs to stop prevaricating, open pubs from 4 July, inside and outside, and reduce social distancing to one metre.

“The PM has become a joke, there is no clarity of policy and [the government is] losing public and business support.”