UK gyms and nightclubs join calls for support amid ‘decimated’ bookings

UK nightclubs and gyms have joined hospitality operators in calling on the government to provide urgent financial support, as trade slumps and customers stay away amid rising Covid cases.

Several gym operators have written an open letter to the prime minister, warning the sector is “now on a knife edge fighting for survival”.

The independent London gyms, including Frame, which has seven outlets, Triyoga, which has five, and 1Rebel, with nine gyms, said the capital’s fitness industry had been been “decimated by a lockdown in all but name”, with attendance slashed.

They called for the reintroduction of furlough payments, urgent financial support via grants and a reduction in VAT as the industry heads into its busiest trading period in the post-festive health kick.

“While we recognise December was a crucial month for the hospitality industry, January and February are crucial months for the fitness industry and constitute circa 50% of yearly revenue capture,” the letter says.

Meanwhile, a third of nightlife businesses are warning that they might have to close for good within a month, unless they receive urgent government financial support, according to a poll of more than 500 nightclubs, bars and pubs by the trade body the Night Time Industries Association.

The NTIA found that half of all businesses in the night-time economy warned they will have to cut at least half of the jobs in their workforce if the government does not provide adequate financial assistance.

Night-time venues reported that they had lost £46,000 a unit on average in missing sales and cancellations during the festive period.

“These venues have faced over 20 months of financial hardship and the Christmas trade period was integral to keeping those surviving businesses afloat in the upcoming year,” said Michael Kill, the NTIA chief executive. “It really is a cataclysmic Christmas.”

Joining the chorus of businesses pleading for help from the government are operators of bars, restaurants and cafes, all facing a wave of cancellations.

The weekend just passed should have been the busiest trading period of the Christmas season, but customers chose to stay away, said Nick Mackenzie, the chief executive of the pub and brewery chain Greene King, which runs 2,700 pubs, restaurants and hotels across the UK.

“Demand has dropped, bookings have been decimated, some parts of the country we are 70%, 80% down on 2019, so the situation is pretty unsustainable,” told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme on Monday.

Mackenzie said urged the chancellor, Rishi Sunak, to deliver “quick and effective support”. He said hospitality businesses that were severely affected or had had to close needed a range of support measures including furlough, and he also called for business rates relief, regardless of the size of the firm.

“Longer term we need VAT to be reduced back down to 5% to give us the cashflow to survive into next year. For many businesses, Christmas is about getting cashflow ready to help them survive in January,” he said.

The health secretary, Sajid Javid, on Sunday refused to rule out tighter Covid restrictions before Christmas. Some hospitality firms, including the pub chain JD Wetherspoon, have accused the government of already implementing a “lockdown by stealth” after issuing guidance for people to reduce their social contact.

“The chancellor better get his act together or it’s going to be a really horrible Christmas for our sector,” said David Page, the chairman of Fulham Shore, the London-listed owner of the pizza chain Franco Manca and the Real Greek restaurants.

Sales at Fulham Shore’s 20 city centre restaurants fell last week, Page told BBC Radio 4, although he added that sales had risen at sites in commuter areas and on England’s south coast.

“Everybody is in pain at the moment,” Page said. “We have switched to takeaway only in some branches because of Covid and our staff self-isolating.”

He added: “Cashflow is the problem at the moment,” and he echoed calls for Sunak to give help to hospitality firms. “Especially nearer London and nearer city centres, these businesses have no cashflow. They are paying staff, they’ve got to pay their suppliers. It’s been a bit of a disaster area for smaller businesses over the last two weeks and Rishi needs to do something in the next 24 hours.”