Hospitality has been pleading for over a week with the Treasury to provide additional financial support following weeks of spiraling booking cancellations – and today, at last, Rishi Sunak has responded.
The Chancellor this afternoon unveiled new measures of financial support for the sector in the form of one-off £6k grants for businesses hit by Covid-19, following a week of mounting criticism that saw him accused of not acting swiftly enough and even ‘going into hiding’.
The new measures announced today will enable businesses in the hospitality and leisure sectors to claim a one-off cash grant of up to £6,000 – but many operators seem to feel that this barely scratches the surface.
Sunak has also said the government will be reintroducing the Statutory Sick Pay Rebate Scheme, which enables small and medium-sized businesses to claim government compensation to cover employees’ sick pay.
However, restaurateurs, landlords and other industry experts have been quick to point out that this isn’t really enough to tide over a sector that relies on Christmas takings to see it through into the spring.
Sacha Lord, Manchester’s Night Time Economy Advisor, has been very outspoken when it comes to fighting the corner of Manchester’s small hospitality businesses – many of whom are facing closure without a significant package of support and are hoping to see further measures such as the return of furlough and business rates relief reintroduced.
Following the Chancellor’s announcement, he was quick to tweet his thoughts on the new package, which boiled down to the succinct summary: “It’s not a package. It’s an insult.”
We’re providing new support worth £1bn including:
➡️New grants for hospitality & leisure sectors – up to £6,000 per business premises.
➡️Adding £30m to the Culture Recovery Fund to support culture.
Elsewhere, UK Hospitality tweeted their support of the measures, stating: “We’re pleased @RishiSunak has listened to our pleas.
“This is a generous package building on existing support measures to provide an immediate emergency cash injection for those businesses who, through no fault of their own, have seen their most valuable trading period annihilated.”
However, it doesn’t appear that this take has gone down well with the majority of hospitality operators on Twitter – with a torrent of replies to UK Hospitality suggesting many still feel let down and forgotten.
Scott McVittie tweeted: “Sounds generous for headlines but that barely covers a fraction of the monthly payroll. @UKHospKate this minimises they crisis we are facing”
Marshall Stephens said: “‘Generous’ I lost that much in cancellations last week.”
Whilst Gareth Walters said: “This is the opposite to the reaction I’ve seen across bar/restaurant businesses – no one using the phrase generous”
The Treasury justifies the pitiful level of support because there are "fewer insolvencies" (insolvency rules have been suspended for two years) and "higher vacancies" (there's a recruitment crisis thanks to Brexit) and hospitality has "more cash in the bank" than March 2020. 1/2
£6k isn’t even a weeks trading. We’re drowning. Every day you don’t lock us down but tell people to stay home we haemorrhage money. We can’t send staff home but we bring no money in. We need a furlough scheme and serious guidance so we can plan what to do
Lazy Lounge added, “Without a furlough scheme, £6,000 isn’t enough to get through 5 days let alone what could quite possible be the next few months.
“Madness! Thousands still going to lose their jobs and many businesses going to disappear.”
Whilst Zoey Clarke said, “6k!? What a slap in the face. That wouldn’t cover the wine order for Christmas. How are you claiming this is generous, will it cover just one week’s salary for an SME?! Rent, tax, lost income. Hopeless. Thank God @Sacha_Lord is here.”
Following a week in which the hospitality industry’s pleas have fallen on seemingly deaf ears, it seems there is more still to be done following these announcements – with many hoping they can continue to pile on the pressure to get more support from the Treasury.
Clearly, more needs to be done in order for hospitality to truly feel supported – especially with reports of further restrictions continuing to loom on the horizon.
Rishi Sunak, however, has said that he thinks the government has responded ‘generously’.
He told Sky News: “We’ve responded I think generously today.
“The grants that we’ve outlined, up to £6,000 pounds, are comparable to grants that we provided to hospitality businesses when they were completely closed earlier this year so there’s a benchmark for you.”
Feature image – SKY / Albert’s Schloss
News
Manchester City issue statement as they reach agreement over ‘APT’ controversy
Danny Jones
Manchester City and the Premier League have agreed a settlement over their long, drawn-out APT rules controversy.
For starters, no: this is not to do with the outstanding 115 charges still alleged against the local side; that’s to do with FFP.
In case you weren’t aware of the latest with this story, after winning a watershed court case against the English top flight last October regarding ‘Associated Party Transactions’ (APT) – an outcome with the Premier League contested – Man City have now put the case behind them.
Updating supporters on social media this week, the club revealed that the situation has now been resolved and is essentially over.
Sharing the update on social media, they gave a brief overview of how the debate related to transparency surrounding sponsorship deals and commercial dealings was finally concluded.
A statement reads as follows: “The Premier League and Manchester City FC have reached a settlement in relation to the arbitration commenced by the club earlier this year concerning the Premier League’s Associated Party Transaction, and as a result, the parties have agreed to terminate the proceedings.
“This settlement brings an end to the dispute between the parties regarding the APT Rules. As part of the settlement, Manchester City accepts that the current APT Rules are valid and binding.
“It has been agreed that neither the Premier League nor the club will be making any further comment about the matter.
Although the decision was ultimately reached following extensive investigation by an independent commission, some are already speculating about what this could mean in terms of wider controversies surrounding the club.
The cynic in me thinks that City dropping this case and accepting that the APT rules are correct & binding is part of a wider agreement around the 115 charges stuff. Like a “drop the APT stuff and you’ll only get a small points deduction and a fine” type deal. https://t.co/QTvL11GTel
Conversely, the Premier League itself is yet to offer any public response of its own, with the assurance that the City Football Group (CFG) accepts that said APT Rules are “valid and binding” essentially being the final word.
Many fans have been quick to question online whether this has any impact on the aforementioned FFP saga (don’t forget City’s 115 charges were actually increased to 130 back in December), but very little is still publicly known about the latter.
The hearing itself technically began this time last year, but we have yet to actually find out what the result was, despite the 10-week process ending in December.
Meanwhile, that isn’t the only concern for die-hard Blues of late…
The Manchester public are being invited to consult on ‘landmark’ development plans for Red Bank
Danny Jones
Members of the Greater Manchester public are being invited to take part in the official consultation period ahead of the proposed plans for a big new development in Red Bank.
The central district, located right near Cheetham Hill and now considered a key part of the Northern Gateway regeneration area, is on the verge of a significant transformation in the shape of two huge new ‘landmark’ towers.
With more skyscrapers steadily popping up all over the city centre and neighbouring parts of Salford (at an increasingly quick rate, we’d hasten to add), local residents are rightly being encouraged to come and share their thoughts and feedback on the impending project.
CGIs of the two new towers from near and afar. (Credit: Supplied)
Pencilled in by LWP Redbank Limited, the public consultation is not just specifically related to 50–54 Red Bank, but the surrounding area too.
With two separate planning permission applications submitted to Manchester City Council – one regarding the apartment blocks themselves and another to the ‘public realm’, which includes the immediate vicinity and, most notably, potential “future access to the historic viaduct.”
The headline of the major update to the Red Bank neighbourhood is, of course, the two apartment buildings, which would create a total of 509 new homes and employment opportunities.
Made up of a mix of one, two and three-bedroom flats said to be suitable for both single occupants and families, the developers are also slated to create several shared amenities, landscaped outdoor areas, and sweeping city views.
Equally important is how it will integrate into the existing area at ground level, with new commercial units set to complement the thriving businesses under the recognisable Red Bank arches; more than 2,000 square metres of open space will link the towers to the viaduct.
Sustainability is said to be at the heart of the proposals too, with the scheme expected to be largely car-free, as well as improving travel links to public transport networks, cycle parking, energy-efficient features, “including air source heat pumps and other low-carbon technologies.”
At present, those for the construction argue that limited use is being made of the space.
Locals hoping for a positive dialogue during the consultation period will be pleased to hear that “native planting, trees, and rain gardens will create green and welcoming spaces, with active frontages and open sightlines improving safety and vibrancy” have all been promised.
Issuing a statement on behalf of the project team, a spokesperson said in a recent press release: “Red Bank is fast becoming a creative and vibrant part of Manchester, and our vision is to build on this character to create a distinctive new neighbourhood.
“These proposals bring forward much-needed homes, alongside new public space, and active ground-floor uses that will add to the life of the area. We look forward to hearing what local people think during our consultation, which is being held until Friday, 3 October.”
A consultation drop-in event will take place at GRUB MCR, 50 Red Bank, Cheetham Hill (M4 4HF) from 3-7pm on Wednesday, 17 September. Further feedback is also welcome either HERE, over the email at [email protected], or by freephone: 0800 689 1095 (Mon-Fri, 9am-5:30pm).
If all goes ahead as planned, you can expect work to start on this particular part of the ‘Victoria North Masterplan’ early next year, if not even sooner.
Georgina Pellant -
21st December 2021 
