Mayor of London calls for action to save hospitality jobs as redundancies rise

The mayor of London has called for further support to save hospitality jobs amid warnings redundancies are close to record levels.

Sadiq Khan has said those businesses “now facing the real prospect of having to close their doors” in a second lockdown will need support in line with the government’s original furlough scheme if jobs are to be saved.

His plea comes after a Freedom of Information request submitted by the BBC found that the number of British employers looking to make redundancies had almost reached a new record in September, with 82,000 roles notified as at risk.

With the furlough scheme set to come to an end this weekend and be replaced by the new Job Support Scheme, requiring greater levels of employer contribution, there are concerns this figure will rise again.

Khan said: “I welcomed the changes to the flawed Job Support Scheme that the chancellor announced last week. But for many businesses facing acute financial problems in London’s retail, hospitality and cultural sectors, this won’t be enough to prevent further closures and the devastation of more unemployment.

“The collapse of tourism has left these sectors without any prospect of returning to normal levels of business for many months to come. We urgently need a more comprehensive package of financial aid from the government which reaches all of the businesses now facing the real prospect of having to close their doors as a result of Covid-19. This includes the same level of support for job retention as the original furlough scheme.

“It is low-paid Londoners from the most deprived parts of the capital who have been most reliant on the furlough scheme, and are at most risk of falling into greater financial hardship. If the government fails to get a grip on this virus with a functioning test and trace system, it will be those already struggling to make ends meet who will suffer most from the ongoing economic fallout.”

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