THE CEO of the Night Time Industries Association, says we will “see a considerable collapse” across the hospitality industry if they do not get further support from the Government.
Michael Kill told GB News Breakfast today (SAT): “We’re working very hard to make sure that Rishi Sunak understands the impacts of the situation if there is no action.
“I mean, the current situation is that most of these businesses are trading about 15%. down across the board.
“They’ve got about a 30% plus increase in cost and with the alcohol duty, we will see a 5% loss in liquor margin, GDP or gross profit. So it’s a very, very difficult situation. It’s almost an inflationary circle we’re presented with so we do need this intervention. And we are working very hard alongside other trade bodies to ensure that that’s front and centre.
Commenting on the busier Christmas rush, which is traditionally a busy time for pubs and venues, he continued: “What is known as the Golden quarter is a period where we sort of make money to see us through the slower periods in 2023 or the following year. The challenge that we have this year is that as profits have been eroded so heavily because of cost inflation there is a real concern that without intervention, once we get past the golden quarter into January and February, we’re going to see quite a considerable collapse of many businesses. They’re not going to be able to survive that period, given the erosion of margins in this key period. So it’s very challenging for us.”
Mr Kill said he believed there was evidence to suggest the UK was already in austerity.
He said: “I think we are in austerity, we’re 15% down across the board. We’re already seeing a change in behaviour of some of the customers in terms of frequency of visit, dwell, time spent, et cetera. So it’s a really tough period that we are worried about. We can be a massive part of the economic recovery of this country, but we need that financial headroom to survive.
“If you remember the financial crash, many years back we were actually one of the key industries that started to bring back the economy very quickly. So you know, we were relied upon then and I think we could be relied upon now I think the traction of bringing footfall into areas the secondary and tertiary purchase the physical, social and mental well being of people here all sudden she just rocked her eyes and she went like that.”
