Inside track: Spring promises fresh starts and debt payments, says David Moore

Spring promises new beginnings, a fresh start... and the post-pandemic rent debt payments, says David Moore

I love this time of year. The longer days and brighter mornings signalling the onset of spring, the bulbs breaking through, the sea of yellow across the parks, and it’s an exciting time for restaurants with all the green shoots making their way onto the menu.

It is a real joy to see the kitchen creativity kick in. Spring forward with morels, asparagus, peas in the pod – so fresh, so sweet; but all in the garden is not so fragrant and rosy for many of us.

The rent moratorium is over and talks with landlords are afoot to discuss unpaid rent. The main government guideline for arbitration is that if you can afford to pay your unpaid rent, you should pay it. This is a pretty useless guideline and one that favours and rewards those who have done little to mitigate their losses. It punishes those that struggled through with new ideas and initiatives to find a silver lining in the midst of Covid.

And so, I had my conversation with the landlady’s agent. I’m one of the lucky ones who can afford to pay the unpaid rent, but feel strongly that it should not be requested – especially for a tenant who has paid rent for 30 years, no voids, no rent free. Surely we deserve a deal on the outstanding five months? Had I stripped out assets and painted a picture of gloom and doom, I may have had a different outcome. Is honesty the best policy?

 

“So, we get through the last two years and think the rent can’t possibly go up after all that has happened, but of course it can and always does”

There will be many who have rent reviews with pre-pandemic review dates. I did: February 2019. So, we get through the last two years and think the rent can’t possibly go up after all that has happened, but of course it can and always does, with upwardly moving contracts. Plus, of course, there’s the back rent owed through the lockdowns. It feels like we are being screwed at every turn. Well-run businesses are badly treated, poorly supported and taken for granted.

Why do we have such a small voice? I know I’m preaching to the converted; but let’s ask the question. Why does an industry that is the fourth largest in the UK, the third-largest employer, that generates hundreds of billions in VAT, income tax, corporation tax and national insurance, have so little voice?

I read that Miami is the fastest growing hospitality city in the US and that the mayor calls business leaders to discuss what he can do to help them succeed. Here in London, the greatest city on the planet, we have Sadiq Khan. I don’t think he’ll be calling me any time soon, but if he did, I’d have a long wish list of requests, with number one being would you find me a kitchen porter please? I used an aggregator agency to advertise several positions available and this agency simply placed adverts across all platforms, guaranteed nothing, and for the £600 spent, not one application was received.

However, I did receive three CVs directly from great young French people who I can’t employ. Sadiq, we need to welcome back the youth of Europe with a young person’s holiday/work visa. Can you talk to your people? Or do something really useful and pull a shift washing up at Pied à Terre.

An aside

Recently I was called ‘The man they couldn’t hang’ – a comment from an industry contemporary. I know it wasn’t a compliment, but I’m taking it as one and adopting it as my new moniker. Don’t let others get you down, stay true to what you do.

David Moore, the Man They Couldn’t Hang