Kate Nicholls, chief executive of trade body UKHospitality, was one of the keynote speakers in a webinar that attracted more than 500 hospitality professionals.
A year ago the hospitality industry represented 11% of employment, 7% of GDP and £130Bn of revenue but by the end of 2020 more than 660,000 colleagues lost their jobs as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Nicholls said: “This is the scale of what we’ve lost but also the opportunity of what we can recover if we get the right support moving forward.”
UKHospitality’s three-point plan:
- A clear staged exit strategy: not just from lockdown but from all restrictions, with a commitment that we will not go back into another lockdown.
- Rebuild shattered balance sheets, shattered confidence in consumers and business and tackle indebtedness: critically extending reduced rate of VAT and business rates holiday.
- Tackle rent debt: if support is not provided, recovery will be crippled.
The panel discussion featured Hamish Stoddart managing director of Peach Pub Company, Jonathan Raggett managing director of Red Carnation Hotels and Frank Bandura chief financial officer of Gusto Restaurants Ltd.
When discussing how best to navigate 2021, the panel discussed four key topics including employee engagement, supply chain engagement, attracting customers back and technology.
Watch the full recording of the event, here.