Worst trading performance in living memory says Hospitality Ulster CE

Hospitality Ulster has published the latest trading survey that covers the vital Christmas period which shows that the hospitality sector here experienced its worst trading performance in living memory.

The organisation has expressed its disappointed that the grant support, due to the sector for restricted opening and closure - over what should have been a busy period – has been delayed.

Hospitality leaders are now calling on the Executive to provide the crucial grant assistance stating that financial support and a dedicated recovery strategy is now vital as the industry is in a period of market failure and businesses face potential collapse across NI.

The recent Hospitality Ulster member survey showed: Almost all members have been negatively affected by the government messaging on limiting contacts and the additional restrictions introduced on December 22 and brought into force on December 26 2021 as a consequence of the emergence of the Omicron strain of the virus.

At least one in two members have seen sales fall by more than 50% in the week commencing December 27.

The extent of the impact continues to widen and deepen. For example, more than twice as many members are reporting a drop in beverage and food sales of more than 50% in the week commencing December 27 compared to the November 15, which is when the Covid pass was first introduced to NI.

The deterioration over the New Year when the restrictions came into place are particularly striking in terms of the significant increase in the share of members reporting sales down by over 70%.

Around one in five members report beverage and food sales down by more than 70% in the week commencing December 27 compared to the same week in 2019.

This is even higher for accommodation sales with 44% of hotels reporting that sales were down by over 70% for that week, reflecting a significant down turn also in food and beverage sales.

Colin Neill, CE, Hospitality Ulster said: “This has been the worst performance for the hospitality sector in living memory. The trading position has continued to deteriorate and the last seven to eight weeks has possibly been the worst period in the entire pandemic. This should have been the time of year that trade is swift, but it has almost ground to a halt due to the restriction and fear of the spread of the Omicron variant.

“Time is of the essence as further debt is building in the early months of the new year. In normal circumstances a good Christmas period would have taken care of the vast majority of the bills, however this was not the case last year, and certainly not the case this year. It is evident that financial support and a dedicated recovery strategy is now vital as we are in a period of market failure, facing the potential collapse of many businesses.

“Whilst it is disappointing that the latest financial support package has been delayed, we are in regular contact with government officials and are hopeful that the much needed financial assistance will be distributed to business owners across the hospitality sector in the next couple of weeks.

“We will meet with the Economy Minister to highlight the need to include hotels in the latest round of financial support, as many are food and beverage led, and are suffering the same impact of market failure. We are also working with Government officials to secure additional financial support for nightclubs that are now legally required to close.

“As soon as the infection rate peaks, the Executive must make the decision to remove the punitive restrictions and support the industry as it rebuilds over the coming months and years.”

A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this story on our website. While I have your attention, I also have an important request to make of you.

In order for us to continue to provide high quality and trusted local news on this free-to-read site, I am asking you to also please purchase a copy of our newspaper whenever you are able to do so.

Our journalists are highly trained and our content is independently regulated by IPSO to some of the most rigorous standards in the world. But being your eyes and ears comes at a price. So we need your support more than ever to buy our newspapers during this crisis.

With the coronavirus lockdown having a major impact on many of our local valued advertisers - and consequently the advertising that we receive - we are more reliant than ever on you helping us to provide you with news and information by buying a copy of our newspaper when you can safely.

You can also enjoy unlimited access to the best news from across Northern Ireland and the UK by subscribing to newsletter.co.uk

With a digital subscription, you can read more than five articles, see fewer ads, enjoy faster load times, and get access to exclusive newsletters and content. Visit https://www.newsletter.co.uk/subscriptions now to sign up.

Thank you