UK eating places and informal eating companies recorded virtually 30,000 job losses in 2020 because the Covid-19 pandemic drove a 163% bounce in redundancies.
Knowledge compiled by the Centre for Retail Analysis (CRR) revealed that 29,684 jobs had been misplaced throughout high quality eating, impartial companies and huge a number of casual-dining chains in the course of the yr.
It represents a pointy enhance from 2019, when 11,280 job losses had been reported throughout the sector, after companies had been hit by two nationwide lockdowns, native lockdown restrictions, curfews, adjustments to service guidelines and lately strengthened tier measures.
The CRR additionally mentioned department closures by hospitality companies had elevated by 76% to 1,621, in contrast with 922 in 2019.
It highlighted main closure proposals and redundancy plans at corporations akin to Pizza Specific, SSP Group, Informal Eating Group, The Restaurant Group and Mitchells & Butlers in the course of the yr.
Because of the tier changes that got here into impact in England on New Yr’s Eve, 22,082 eating places are in tier 4 and are all closed aside from takeaway, and 4,946 are in tier 3. Solely 5 eating places within the Isles of Scilly stay open for diners, in line with the true property adviser Altus Group.
Prof Joshua Bamfield, the CRR’s director, mentioned the pandemic had accelerated a serious shake-up of the sector that was already going down.
“The sector skilled speedy development in retailers throughout 2014 to 2017 as profitable chains added extra branches, however they continuously paid an excessive amount of, whereas sustaining high quality requirements proved troublesome,” he mentioned.
“The necessity to lower prices attributable to over-expansion, elevated competitors and weak client demand produced a disaster within the trade earlier than the pandemic.”
A separate report final week confirmed that the UK excessive road had shed 177,000 jobs in 2020, with an additional 200,000 anticipated to be misplaced this yr because the pandemic continues to hit the sector.