Hospitality leaders call for targeted campaign to save London businesses

UKHospitality and 90 business leaders have called for a co-ordinated campaign to support businesses in the capital where tens of thousands of hospitality jobs are thought to be at risk.

In a letter to prime minister Boris Johnson and mayor of London Sadiq Khan, signatories including David Loewi of D&D London, Martin Williams of Gaucho and Trevor Gulliver of the St John restaurant group have said that while some areas of the country are seeing revenue reach 70% of pre-Covid levels, many businesses in the capital are struggling to reach double figures.

UKHospitality chief executive Kate Nicholls said: "Hospitality and tourism businesses in London rely in large part on the twin revenue streams of tourists and office workers. Visit Britain's latest forecast for inbound tourism to the UK in 2020 show a decline of 73% in visits and a decline of 79% in spending.

"The estimated drop in London's international tourism spend is £12b. The latest estimates also show that only 30% of British office workers are back at their desks and only 15% of businesses expect the majority of staff to be back by the end of September.

"London needs its workers and tourism to survive. Unless action is taken to get people back into the city, hospitality and tourism businesses, retail, leisure and supply chain businesses, which combine to provide 20% of all employment in London, will be ruined."

Last week the government announced it would launch a targeted campaign calling for a return to offices, to coincide with the reopening of schools in a move welcomed by city operators.

Photo: Shutterstock