Operators urged to 'bear down' on guidelines for quickest recovery

UKHospitality chief executive Kate Nicholls has said the industry must ensure social distancing does not become the "new normal" and has called for operators to stick to government guidelines, however "frustrating", in order to recover from the crisis as quickly as possible.

Taking part in a panel discussion during a webinar held on Thursday by data experts CGA, Nicholls said: "The tougher we are now going into September, the quicker we will be in helping the other parts of our industry who are not yet open and there are significant parts of our industry who are large employers, late nights in particular, who are not yet open and have no date.

"We need to work together to help get them open, to make sure we protect their jobs, and their industry too. They are struggling."

Having been involved in discussions with pub operators, she said that the current operating conditions must not become the "new normal", adding: "The more we bear down on it [the restrictions] now, the shorter the time will be that we have social distancing in place."

"The quicker we can start to move towards standing at the bar [in pubs]... moving towards that, bear down now... and we'll get out of this quicker."

She concluded by saying that sticking together throughout the crisis, with one unified message, had given the industry the "power" to get in front of the government "like never before" and that having a united front was key to moving forward.