Hospitality businesses to make redundancies when furlough ends

According to the weekly survey of 173 business leaders across the pub and restaurant industry, 10% of business leaders said they would be forced to make 'substantial' cuts to their workforce when the Job Retention Scheme (JRS) comes to an end at the end of October.

A further 20% of those questioned said they would have to make a minor amount of staff redundancies, with another 20% saying that a moderate number of cuts would need to be made.

For the remainder of respondents, 38% said they didn't expect to make any redundancies and 12% said they were as yet undecided.

Businesses were also divided on whether they would be able to pay the latest installment of rent in full at the end of the quarter, with 45% saying they would not.

The lease forfeiture moratorium, which prevents landlords from repossessing commercial premises if businesses are unable to pay their rent as a result of the Coronavirus pandemic, is due to expire at the end of this month, with many businesses calling for an extension to help safeguard their businesses.

Confidence among business leaders in the sector took a hit last week, with the number of operators asked who were 'quite confident', 'confident' or 'very confident' in the future of their business standing at 67%, down from 78% the previous week.