London-based audit, tax and business advisory firm Blick Rothenberg has urged the Mayor to give hospitality venues in the capital temporary relief on rent and business rents to help them weather tube strikes.
Blick Rothenberg partner Andrew Sanford said: “Many hospitality units are in Transport for London (TFL) property and Sadiq Khan should give them a rent and business rates holiday for the strike period if they are in affected postcodes.
Negligible footfall
“The hospitality sector has been hit by rising Employers National Insurance Contributions (NIC), the cost-of-living crisis and increases in the living wage. It can ill afford a week of negligible footfall caused by these strikes without getting some form of support.”
Sanford added: “While offices can adapt with home working, that option is not open to an already under stress sector that requires in person work for a number of roles. London hospitality businesses will have to consider if it is better to close for the week to try and preserve cash.”
London Underground employees will down tools as scheduled strikes take place across the capital between Sunday 7 and Friday 12 September, but rail and tube strikes have been happening intermittently since 2022 amid disputes on pay and working conditions.
North London publican Heath Ball, who runs the Red Lion & Sun and the Angel in Highgate and the Wenlock Arms near Hackney, previously told The Morning Advertiser (The MA) the situation had turned into “a game of who can hold their breath the longest”, adding the setback was “soul-destroying” for operators affected by the strikes.
Damaging strikes
While this latest round of industrial action has been predicted to cost London hospitality and leisure businesses £110m, rail and tube strikes have cost £4bn in lost sales in total over the past three years, according to trade body UKHospitality (UKH).
Earlier this week, UKH chair Kate Nicholls urged all parties involved to negotiate a solution that avoided more damaging strikes, she said: “Consumers will be forced to change or cancel their plans, impacting sales, and many hospitality teams will have difficulty making it to work.
“This level of impact comes at a time when businesses can least afford it, having just been hit with £3.4bn in additional annual cost.”
