Third of hospitality businesses to reduce opening hours over Christmas due to staff shortages

A third of hospitality businesses have said they will have to reduce their opening hours during the key Christmas period due to staff shortages

That is according to UKHospitality’s latest Future Shock report, in partnership with CGA by NielsenIQ, which also showed the toll labour shortages have taken on business confidence, with 60% of business leaders no longer confident about recruitment.

More than a third of businesses (35%) planned to simplify menus, 32% have been forced to reduce their opening hours and 13% have reduced opening days, all because of staffing shortages.

UKHospitality is calling on the government to implement a ‘two-phase’ approach to tackle the issue, including:

• Expanding the Youth Mobility Scheme to include EU member states
• Reviewing the Shortage Occupation List to accurately reflect the state of the labour market
• Abolishing the Immigration Skills Charge
• Reform of the Apprenticeship Levy to include a proportion of funds being made eligible for use on non-apprenticeship training and improving the operation of apprenticeship system.

UKHospitality chief executive Kate Nicholls said: “The statistics in the report lay bare the real-life impact on businesses and consumers as a result of not having enough staff. It’s so disappointing that businesses are having to go to such lengths such as simplifying menus and reducing trading hours to deal with this. It’s also doing the consumer a disservice, limiting choice and availability.

“There are very simple measures available to the Government that can free up the immigration system and make a huge difference to business… With the right staffing resource, hospitality can really drive growth, offer customers an enhanced experience and help lift up the economy.”

CGA’s director of hospitality operators and food Karl Chessell said: “Strong underlying demand is being compromised by a storm of cost and labour issues. As we see in this report, a shortage of labour is compromising trading for restaurants, pubs and bars and driving up pay.

“All these issues have hurt business confidence and profitability ahead of the crucial Christmas and New Year trading period. The challenges highlight the urgent need for targeted government support for hospitality.”