Northern Ireland’s hospitality sector is bracing itself for “10,000 job losses” within a week as restaurants, pubs and cafes close because of coronavirus, a senior industry leader has warned.
Chief executive of Hospitality Ulster Colin Neillsaid time was “running out” to implement emergency measures and ensure the sector in Northern Ireland survives the crisis.
“There’s no money coming through the door, there’s no support in place and people are distraught. They are losing businesses that have taken them 20 years to build whether it is a pub, a coffee shop; these guys aren’t millionaires and the one question they are asking themselves now is, ‘how are our staff going to eat?’ ”
He said the hospitality sector in the North was no longer looking to the Northern Ireland Executive just to provide urgent funding because the situation had moved beyond critical.
“What they need to do is stop the clock because the possibility of rates holidays [and] interest-free loans won’t help, that’s not enough. We need to deep freeze everything. What we need is for mortgages and all debts to be frozen for a period in time until this crisis passes.
“And even then what’s going to happen when this is all over is that there are businesses in Northern Ireland that will never open again. They are going to go bust, there is a level of despair that I’ve never seen before,” he added.
A growing number of leading hospitality businesses like the award-winning Harry’s Shack in Portstewart, Blackbird in Derry and Michelin-starred Muddlers Club in Belfast have already decided to close temporarily, chiefly due to “safety of staff and customers”.
But many like Stevie and Cristina Higginson, who own the Square Bistro in Lisburn and run Clenaghans in Aghalee, have criticised a lack of support from the UK government and the Executive which, they say, has pushed them into a position they hoped never to be in.
The Higginsons confirmed they had been forced to lay off 40 staff because of “no help from government whatsoever”. And they also closed the Square Bistro in Lisburn.
“Plenty of tears were shed by us. Our staff and customers are like our extended family and their health and safety is our priority,” they said.
The UK treasury confirmed that the Executive will receive an additional £260 million (€286 million) to their budget to tackle the impact of Covid-19.
“This will mean they can increase funding for the NHS and provide grants to businesses,” said the treasury.
Business leaders across the North, including former DUP economy minister Simon Hamilton – who is chief executive of Belfast Chamber – have written to the North’s First and Deputy First Ministers, to request “urgent support” for businesses.
Northern Ireland’s Business Alliance has also established a committee which aims to support firms and represent their interests to government. The alliance is a partnership of the Confederation of British Industry Northern Ireland and the Centre for Competitiveness, the Institute of Directors Northern Ireland and the Northern Ireland Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
In a joint statement on Tuesday, the business-body leaders said : “We will provide businesses, through webinars, with expert counsel on issues as diverse as employment law, deferment of taxation, new strategies for the manufacturing sector and possibly the redeployment of business staff to assist within the community. Law, accountancy and business advisory firms are on board to offer guidance at this extremely challenging time.”
The committee is already involved in getting the wider business community to play a key role in helping to fight the Covid-19 crisis in the North. It has advanced several recommendations on what they say needs to be done.
This includes asking companies in Northern Ireland involved in manufacturing to shift production, if possible, to ventilators, hand sanitisers or personal protective equipment and also recommending that a mechanism to pay businesses immediately for the cost of 14 days sick pay.
