Christmas party cancellations ‘coming in thick and fast’ as hospitality faces £4b loss

Hospitality businesses are seeing cancellations of Christmas parties coming in “thick and fast” following the prime minister’s announcement of further coronavirus restrictions.

Although Boris Johnson said “we think that it's ok to keep going with Christmas parties”, from next week new restrictions in England will include mandatory masks in certain settings, Covid certificates for large venues and ‘work from home’ guidance.

“At eight o’clock last night I opened up emails on my phone and all of the larger parties, which tend to be corporates and other businesses celebrating their Christmas parties, [had sent] e-mail after e-mail saying ‘we’d like to cancel’ following the restrictions,” said Sunny Hodge, owner of London wine bars Diogenes the Dog in Elephant & Castle and Aspen & Meursault in Battersea.

“We have lost in the space of 24 hours what we would expect to turn over in an entire week.”

Hodge told The Caterer he had lost 210 covers within 24 hours, costing his business around £5,000-6,000 in revenue and leaving one bar empty today (9 December) as one of those bookings had been a full venue hire.

He said: “Those larger bookings, we spent the last two or three months nurturing. The food is already in the building for parties in the next few days. The wine is already in the building for parties over the next three weeks. Everything has already been purchased for what should be the busiest three weeks of the year for everyone in hospitality. The losses are massive.”

He has decided to not claim pre-authorisation deposits for around 70% of the parties that have cancelled in the hope that those people will rebook for January or February.

Uncertainty around Christmas

Trade association UKHospitality has estimated restaurant and pub spend is set to drop by around 40% this Christmas due to cancellations, restrictions and uncertainty, equating to around £4b in lost revenue – something many businesses in the industry can ill-afford.

“After the announcement from Boris, we are seeing wholesale Christmas cancellations across the board,” said Dave Critchley, executive head chef of Lu Ban restaurant in Liverpool. “The public are now worried, and parties are being cancelled across the country and the hospitality industry is going to feel this on a massive scale.”

He added: “There’s lots of uncertainty in the industry. It’s not just about the restaurants and bars but all the staff, their mental health, their stress levels. Will there be enough hours to pay them, so they can enjoy Christmas?

"There are a lot more factors than just will restaurants make enough money through Christmas to pay the bills. We’re back to those uncertain times and we feel we are once again back in this terrible situation.

“At Lu Ban we’re adopting a ‘keep calm and carry on’ Christmas. We want to maintain what we’re doing. We want the opportunity to run our businesses and give guests a great experience.”

Calls for government support

Gary Usher posted on social media that his company Elite Bistros had seen hundreds of cancellations for December including a party of 70 this evening following the briefing. "Telling people to work from home has instantly ripped up Christmas reservations," he said.

Chris Soley, chief executive of Camerons Brewery, tweeted that cancellations were “coming in thick and fast” following the announcement and compared it to early March 2020, when people were told not to go to hospitality establishments, but businesses were not forced to close and received no financial support.

Kate Nicholls, chief executive of UKHospitality said anything less than full business rates relief, grants, rent protection and extended VAT reductions “would prove catastrophic” for the industry and is calling for an urgent review of financial support for the industry.

When asked if there would be additional support for hospitality businesses impacted by the restrictions, a Treasury spokesperson told The Caterer: “We’re taking the action set out in our Winter Plan and are acting early to help control the virus’s spread - while avoiding unduly damaging economic and social restrictions.

“Our £400bn covid support package will continue to help businesses into spring next year and we will continue to respond proportionately to the changing path of the virus, as we have done since the start of the pandemic.”

Photo: JP Wallet / Shutterstock