Government loses bid to delay High Court challenge from hospitality sector over letting non-essential shops open before pubs and restaurants can serve food and drink indoors A judge today threw out the appeal and sided with two prolific businessmen Hugh Osmond and Sacha Lord say indoor hospitality should reopen sooner Mrs Justice Eady approved their request … Read more
The emoji quiz returns with a food and drink edition – so can YOU guess the names of these 30 brands and high street restaurants? Tech company Airship, based in Sheffield, designed a hospitality-themed quiz There’s a combination of food and drink brands and high street restaurant chains Most people can only name five of … Read more
30,000 pub closures loom: Bosses from across the hospitality industry plead with ministers to unlock early to save the sector from disaster Industry body UK Hospitality says 42 pubs shutting their doors every day in 2021 This rate is up from 30 pubs a day closing last year according to their latest data Figures led … Read more
Two hospitality chiefs have today announced they will launch a High Court challenge against the Government, claiming it has ‘failed’ to provide evidence for delaying the return of indoor drinking. Hugh Osmond, founder of Punch Taverns, and Sacha Lord, night-time economy adviser for Greater Manchester, believe pubs should be allowed to open fully next month. … Read more
Tory MPs lined up with business leaders last night to urge Boris Johnson to ‘be bold’ and accelerate the lifting of all lockdown restrictions. Pubs and restaurant owners said they needed to see light at the end of the tunnel after a devastating year for the hospitality industry. Former Conservative leader Lord Hague heaped further … Read more
Rishi Sunak has been branded ‘tone deaf’ after posing with celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay in a cheesy photo-op where they discussed the ‘challenges’ facing the industry during the pandemic. The Chancellor faced the fury of people working in pubs, bars and restaurants over his online chat with multi-millionaire F-Word star, who sacked around 500 staff … Read more
New research has found 90 per cent of independent restaurants face the risk of permanent closure due to the coronavirus pandemic. The hospitality sector has been battered since the first national lockdown was implemented across the UK in March 2020, and it remains closed today. Many have taken to introducing delivery and takeaway services or … Read more
Confident: Sarah Willingham is banking on a big return for hospitality Dragons’ Den entrepreneur Sarah Willingham has four children dotted around the house doing lessons on their iPads and laptops during our interview, but she’s surprisingly relaxed about home-schooling. When her youngest child, Marly, was five, she took her whole family out of school for … Read more
Business owner Justin Gilchrist can appreciate the irony, albeit through gritted teeth. His company, South Catering, is not eligible for any of the Government’s hospitality grants. Before the pandemic hit, the Manchester-based business was one of the leading caterers for corporate launches, conferences and meetings in the North West. Now business is at a standstill. … Read more
The hospitality sector has shared its outrage over being unfairly scapegoated when Covid-19 infections rose last year and has called for its own designated minister. Next Monday will see parliament discuss the Seat at the Table’s campaign’s petition, after it received almost double the required signatures it needed to get it there. The campaign has … Read more