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‘Pingdemic’ hits 267,000 hospitality workers

A new survey has found that 13% of the UK hospitality sector’s workforce has recently been or is currently self-isolating, resulting in reduced trading hours and temporary closures.

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Four in 10 operators have had to either fully or partially close their site after staff were told to self-isolate

Trade body UK Hospitality surveyed around 17,000 venues that employ a total of 308,000 people.

According to the survey, six in 10 hospitality businesses said that they had staff off work after they were ‘pinged’ by the NHS Covid-19 app. This represents 13% of the industry’s workforce, or 267,000 people.

The app tells users to isolate for 10 days due to possible contact with someone who has coronavirus.

As such, four in 10 operators have had to either fully or partially close their site. Other measures taken by businesses include 47% reducing their trading hours, while six in 10 required its remaining employees to work more hours.

Furthermore, the survey found that 39% of venues resorted to offering a limited menu and 8% moved to take away only.

UK Hospitality’s chief executive, Kate Nicholls, said: “This is an absolutely critical summer period for hospitality and tourism in the UK yet, during what should be peak season, many operators are being forced to reduce trading hours or close their doors completely due to the ‘pingdemic’.”

The trade group is calling on the government to implement measures such as a test-to-release scheme, enabling employees to return to work if they test negative.

Nicholls added: “This is an industry that is striving to get back [on] its feet, with some businesses only now able to trade for the first time after a long period of closure. Hospitality has a crucial role to play in driving the UK’s economic recovery but without swift intervention more businesses will close and more jobs will be lost.”

Covid-19 has cost the UK hospitality sector £100.2 billion (US$140bn) in trading since the start of the pandemic, according to the UK Hospitality Quarterly Tracker in association with CGA report.

Nightclub impact

A recent survey was also released by the Night Time Industries Association (NTIA), which found that 77% of nightclubs and late-night venues had lost staff to self-isolation rules in one week following ‘Freedom Day’ on 19 July, when all Covid-19 restrictions were removed.

England’s nightclub industry was allowed to reopen last month after being closed since March 2020.

A survey of the NTIA’s members reported that businesses have lost an average of 25% of their total workforce over a seven-day period. Nearly three quarters (72%) of businesses said they would have to temporarily shut parts of their operation or cut opening hours as a result of staff shortages.

Michael Kill, chief executive of the NTIA, said: “The figures revealed in our survey today are hardly surprising, as we have seen first-hand the carnage brought to operations due to last-minute staffing deficiencies. In short, this has become a logistical nightmare for managers and team members, has hindered our ability to plan, and has brought with it, similar operational challenges to what we faced during the lockdowns but without the corresponding government support.”

The NTIA is also calling on the government to include the industry on the list of exempted sectors that allow vaccinated workers to avoid isolation.

The trade body said significant portions of staff in the night-time sector are young people. As such, many of these workers are yet to receive two doses of the Covid-19 vaccine and will be exempt from new isolation rules that are due to come into force on 16 August.

Kill added: “While we fully understand the importance of taking precautions to contain Covid-19, there must be a more efficient solution than forcing our businesses and workers into a perpetual limbo, and we would urgently ask the government to introduce a ‘test-and-release’ scheme for our industry.”

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