Thread by @TimeOutLondon

Hospitality businesses fear restrictions tightening as the Omicron variant spreads.

@angela_hui investigates what that means for London's food and drink industry

🍽️👇

timeout.com/london/news/we…

❌Since Boris Johnson announced England’s move to Plan B restrictions, bookings have plummeted, Christmas parties have been postponed and some restaurants are closing early for Christmas due to fears around the rising cases of Omicron. Everything feels very March 2020

😷While hospitality venues are currently allowed to continue to operate as normal – without the reinstatement of social distancing rules, table service or mask mandating – many are taking it upon themselves to protect the health of staff and customers

🍷Bash Redford, owner of Peckham rooftop wine bar @forzawin, who made the tough decision to close the restaurant until further notice on December 15, says he’s had to cancel 1,000 bookings from now until the end of the year

🦠‘What we’ve just done is probably suicide...People have said we’re overreacting and jumping the gun, but we don’t want to be responsible for spreading Covid. We care about our team rather than short-term gain and we want to put people before profit'

💰Regardless of official rules, Omicron is hurting hospitality.

For those who don’t have the option of shutting up shop, it’s make or break. Many were relying on this busy period to try to recuperate losses from the past two turbulent years

🤝Meg Doherty, founder of social enterprise restaurant @fatmacys:

‘We’ve lost £30k in bookings and income. We just opened two new restaurants...We were hoping to stay open until Christmas Eve, but we’re really struggling and will probably have to close by the end of the week’

⚖️‘Last week, we were hosting parties of 30 people; we barely made £300 the other night, which doesn’t even cover bills or staff being there. People don’t realise the impact of cancelling on the day...we’re not sure if we’re going to have the cash to actually pay everyone’

📉The rapid spread of the variant has led to staff shortages.

Founder and chief executive of @SJRestaurant, Trevor Gulliver, has faced mass cancellations and says income is down 40% at the Smithfield site and the Spitalfields venue has closed temporarily due to lack of staff

👨‍🌾‘We’re down on business across the board...At the end of the day, the number of services, the number of staff down and the number of covers will impact back up the food chain to the farmers themselves'

🚫There have been rumours of further restrictions, but many have questioned where the financial support for the industry is during this difficult time and whether the government furlough scheme can be reintroduced in order to save jobs

🤷‘I’m exhausted, we’re all exhausted...It’s very frustrating when we’re the last to know what’s happening. There are always going to be variants and spikes, but the government doesn’t really have a handle on it and it feels like they’ve not learned any of the lessons’