One of the UK’s largest operators of pubs and restaurants has said sales are “getting worse by the day” as others in the industry warned the coronavirus was having a devastating impact on trade.
The Restaurant Group, which owns Frankie & Benny’s and Wagamama, said spending had plunged 12.5 per cent in the past two weeks.
The outlook is expected to worsen dramatically as the country adapts to government advice that people should stay at home and avoid bars, pubs, restaurants and other venues.
Data from restaurant booking website Opentable shows bookings for 16 March had dropped by 56 per cent globally compared with the same time last year. In the UK, bookings are down 52 per cent, and in Ireland, which enacted social-distancing measures earlier than Britain, bookings are 70 per cent down.
On Wednesday, Marston’s, which owns 1,550 British pubs, and Mitchells & Butlers, owner of All Bar One, both warned about the impact of coronavirus.
The Restaurant Group (TRG) said in a statement to investors: “In particular, our concessions business has been significantly impacted, with like-for-like sales down 21.7 per cent and getting worse by the day, given international travel bans.”
TRG forecasts like-for-like sales will drop 45 per cent in the first half of this year.
Marston’s warned that while it was not yet feeling the brunt of the coronavirus outbreak, government advice to avoid eating or drinking out was bound to “significantly lower sales in the coming weeks”.
Mitchells & Butlers said that recent trading had been “severely impacted” by the outbreak.
It also warned that government advice to stay away from public eateries was “now expected to lead to a further significant downturn in sales”.
The groups welcomed chancellor Rishi Sunak’s proposals on Tuesday afternoon to slash business rates and give loans of up to £5m to firms that need help paying their bills.
Some small firms can also apply for grants of between £10,000 and £25,000, while larger chains can get low-cost debt backed by the government as part of a £350bn support package.
Business groups said the measures were not enough, however. The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) called on the government to pay money directly to all employers by reversing the national insurance scheme.
Under the proposals, businesses would receive money from the government in proportion to their wage bill, rather than paying it to the government as they do currently. That would directly support jobs and help companies to avoid making redundancies.
Asked about the plan, business secretary Alok Sharma told the BBC’s Today programme: “I completely understand that people want us to go further, particularly on this issue of support for employees, for employment... The chancellor was very clear that this is a conversation he and I are having with employers and trade unions, and we’ll come forward in the coming days with further measures.”
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