The head of an independent bar group in Birmingham says the sector is on the cusp of "a very difficult period" as it continues to battle the fallout from the coronavirus lockdown.
Matt Scriven, founder and managing director of Bitters N' Twisted, says there is an air of uncertainty about how hospitality businesses will operate and worries it could take a "hell of a long time" for them to get back on their feet.
Speaking exclusively to BusinessLive, he said: "There are a lot of imponderables at the minute.
"We don't know how long it's going to be until there's a vaccine and we don't know what impact that is going to have on customer confidence in the meantime.
"As a result, we don't know how we're going to be able to run our businesses which makes it very difficult in terms of managing costs and trying to grow and develop.
"Invariably, you spend most of your time firefighting and trying to deal with enabling your business to survive which is pretty stressful and difficult at the best of times.
"It's going to take a hell of a long time for hospitality businesses to get back on their feet. I think it's going to be a very difficult period for independents."
Mr Scriven launched his company in 2006 when he opened cocktail venue Island Bar, in Suffolk Street Queensway, since when the group has grown to eight venues in Birmingham, Worcester and Leicester including Rose Villa Tavern, Bodega and Jekyll & Hyde.
The 46-year-old said he was inspired by the thriving independent scene he had enjoyed while living in Leeds and felt Birmingham was comparatively lacking at that time so took the plunge and left his career in financial services to open Island Bar.
All eight of the company's venues are currently closed after an initial spell running a takeaway only service and its payroll of around 150 staff are furloughed.
Mr Scriven said he felt Birmingham's hospitality sector as a whole was in a stronger position than other cities due to its "disproportionate number" of corporates which he felt were better placed to outlast the lockdown.
"Big companies like Wetherspoons, Mitchells & Butlers and Stonegate have a lot of resources behind them and much larger venues," he said.
"Because of the make up of the Birmingham market, it has a disproportionate number of these types of businesses compared to other cities I have been to like Manchester, Leeds, Liverpool and Newcastle.
"Birmingham is therefore in a better place for those venues to survive in the longer term.
"These operators have money to spend on measures which, in the short term, might help alleviate customers' concerns to a better level than independents could afford.
"We are potentially being asked to spend a lot of money on things which may or may not benefit the business such as social distancing measures.
"From an independent business' point of view, it's going to be a real challenge."
He joined other hospitality chiefs in the city such as Michelin-starred chef Aktar Islam in welcoming the Raise the Bar campaign.
It is calling on the Government to lift the business rates threshold for hospitality venues so they can receive grant funding of up to £25,000 to go towards counteracting the devastating effects of the coronavirus lockdown.
Businesses based in premises with a rateable value above £51,000 are currently ineligible for the grants - although they can access other government schemes - and the Raise the Bar campaign wants the threshold increased to £150,000.
Mr Scriven said: "I would welcome an increase in the threshold past the rather arbitrary £51,000 level.
"I have two venues which just exceed this so aren't eligible but my landlords have so far been supportive and look set to provide additional support to those sites but this clearly won't be the case for all operators.
"Rather than a simple cut off at £51,000 value and as a way of trying to extend assistance to companies with larger premises, I would like to see a stepped reduction after this level.
"This would ensure that most operators receive at least some additional support to assist with their survival.
"It is good to see the industry coming together because a lot of the time it is very disparate and competitive.
"We're all in this together which has resulted in some good initiatives and good communication happening."
