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Half of hospitality venues to face staff shortages

More than 50% of hospitality providers will experience staff shortages next year, UK bar agency The Cocktail Service has predicted.

Bar hospitality staff the cocktail service
The cocktail service has focused on training and its online presence to cope with the effects of Covid-19

The company is recommending an increase in investment in training and education in the industry to combat the potential downfall of staff numbers, due to the potential effects of the omnicron variant of Covid-19 spreading.

Stacey Cullen, staffing director at The Cocktail Service, said: “The stop-start nature of the hospitality sector over the past two years has exacerbated the perception that the events industry is unstable and ‘not a proper job’ – something which is very far from the truth.

“We’re hearing from contacts in various parts of the hospitality sector who have seen large amounts of their workforce leaving the UK, moving into other sectors like food delivery, or even going back into education to retrain.

“Many of our contacts expect this to have a negative impact on staffing going into next year.”

The company is aiming to spotlight the “career potential of working in events and hospitality”, and claims to so far have bucked the trend of staff shortages during the pandemic.

“To do this, we’ve been implementing lots of changes throughout the business,” added Cullen.

“We’ve focused heavily on training, increased check-ins with our team and also focused on increasing our visibility online.”

The Cocktail Service’s sister company The Cocktail Society, a cocktail subscription box and online gift shop, is also credited for the brand’s success.

Trade body UK Hospitality recently warned that new Covid-19 restrictions in England will ‘significantly impact’ consumer confidence and be ‘particularly devastating’ to city-based bar and restaurant venues.

Scottish hospitality will receive £100 million (US$132.6m) to cope with increased restrictions, but a trade body has warned “much more support” is needed to keep businesses afloat.

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