Sacha Lord calls for probe into how Covid measures damaged hospitality
He's calling for an “urgent interim report” to look at policies like enforced table service, 'substantial' meal requirements, 10pm curfew and Eat Out to Help Out scheme.
Sacha Lord has today joined hospitality leaders in requesting that the industry be included in a formal government enquiry assessing the impact of Covid measures on the sector.
Manchester’s Night Tsar has joined other hospitality veterans in calling for a probe into the ‘wide-reaching damage’ caused, following the government’s release of the draft terms for its Covid-19 inquiry last week.
Joined by Punch Taverns founder Hugh Osmond and Michael Kill, chief executive officer of the Night Time Industries Association (NTIA), Mr. Lord has criticised the inquiry as not going far enough.
All three claim that the current draft does not investigate thoroughly enough the impact that a variety of pandemic restrictions had on bars and restaurants across the country, particularly those in higher tiers, like Manchester, who were told they could not serve alcohol unless it appeared alongside a ‘substantial meal’.
Now, they are putting pressure on the government to do more – asking for it to look specifically at hospitality-related policies like enforced table service, ‘substantial’ meal requirements, 10pm curfew and Eat Out to Help Out scheme.
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Image: The Bay Horse Tavern
The trio is also calling for an “urgent interim report” to assess the impact shutting down large swathes of hospitality had on business during the height of the pandemic, in order to address immediate industry concerns.
They said: “If complete closure of the industry becomes the expected response, the sector will become un-investable.
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“The importance of the timing of such a report is crucial.
“If the Inquiry waits until the end of its process before producing a report, further waves of Covid may have hit, and it may already be too late for the sector to recover.”
“To fail to address any of the industry-specific measures will mean that the collective impact of the rules which were being imposed in succession of each other and contemporaneously will not be properly represented or considered by the Inquiry,”
Feature image – Sacha Lord / The Bay Horse Tavern
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Police are trying to track down the family of a man who died after being found unresponsive outside the Palace Theatre in Manchester.
The man, who has now been named as Jonathan Bernard Carroll, was seen outside the city centre theatre at around 6.30am on Tuesday 12 November.
Emergency services rushed to the scene and Mr Carroll was taken to hospital.
Tragically, the 47-year-old passed away a short time later.
A large cordon was in place on Whitworth Street and Oxford Road while police and security attended the incident.
Greater Manchester Police are now appealing to find his next of kin.
It’s believed that he resided in the Salford area of Greater Manchester.
Anyone with any information should contact the Coroner’s Office on 0161 856 1376.
Greater Manchester public urged to help get people ‘off the streets and on their feet’ before Christmas
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Locals are being urged to help get hundreds of people “off the streets and back on their feet” this festive season.
As the temperatures told colder by the day, and Christmas creeps closer and closer, Greater Manchester Mayor’s Charity is bringing back ‘1000 Beds for Christmas’, and the massively-important initiative is aiming to provide 1,000 nights of accommodation to people at risk of homelessness before the big day arrives.
Forming part of the ongoing ‘A Bed Every Night’ scheme, this festive fundraising mission is designed to provide food, shelter, warmth, and dedicated vital wrap-around support for those who need it most.
The charity says it wants to build on the “incredible success of 2023”, which raised more than £55,000 and provided 1,800 nights of accommodation.
Stockport-based property finance specialists, Together – which has supported the campaign for the last two years – has, once again, generously pledged to match every public donation for the first £20,000 raised.
Unfamiliar with the ‘A Bed Every Night’ scheme? Since 2017, when rough sleeping peaked, the initiative has helped ensure a significantly-higher rate of reduction in the numbers of people facing a night on streets in Greater Manchester than seen nationally.
The landmark scheme has given people the chance to rebuild their lives, while also giving them access to key services and opportunities that allows them to stay off the streets for good.
Despite the scheme’s recent success, organisations across Greater Manchester are under “a huge amount of pressure” to meet the demand for their services this winter, and given the current economic outlook, household budgets will continue to be squeezed – leaving people on the sharp end of inequality and poverty.
Georgina Pellant -
22nd April 2022 
