Covid: Sunak to hold Omicron crisis talks as pubs and restaurants feel Christmas squeeze

UK chancellor Rishi Sunak will hold crisis talks with business leaders on Friday as Wales and the UK’s hospitality sector continue to report cancelations due to fears over the spread of Omicron.

Businesses in Wales had already reported mass cancelations before the Welsh Government announced pre and post-Christmas measures on Thursday (December 16), with one restaurant chain in Cardiff reporting over 3,000 cancellations in December alone.

Nightclubs in Wales will be ordered to close from December 27, while a return to two-metre social distancing rules and further social distancing measures will return in other venues and offices.

The Welsh Government has announced a further £60 million worth of support for businesses affected by the new restrictions.

However, previous support measures such as the UK-wide furlough scheme was a UK Treasury policy, while how much money the Welsh Government has to spend on support packages is aided by similar spending by the UK Government in England.

Businesses and unions in Wales have called for further support, with the first minister writing to the UK Treasury to ask for further furlough funding.

The Chancellor faces pressure to produce a rescue package for the UK’s hospitality sector as Christmas festivities have been scaled back across the UK, with the Scottish Government advising limited socialising and the UK Government introducing its ‘plan B’ including Covid passes in England.

Mr Sunak has cut short a trip to the United States to fly home for talks with the sector.

He said: “I appreciate that it is a difficult time for the hospitality industry” and promised the Government would continue to do “whatever it takes” to support lives and livelihoods.

Trade body UKHospitality and pub bosses have calculated £2 billion of trade has already been lost in December.

The Wales Trade Union Congress has warned that workers will bear the brunt of cancelled Christmas parties and concerts due to the widespread use of zero-hours contracts in sectors like hospitality.

It has demanded the UK Government to reboot the furlough scheme.

Wales TUC general secretary Shavanah Taj said: “While organisers are doing the right thing if they’ve assessed that these events can’t go ahead safely, it has a huge knock-on effect on workers in sectors like hospitality.

"Many simply won’t be paid for the missed shifts because of the way in which they’re employed.

“These workers need urgent help – many of them will not be Universal Credit claimants and will have to wait weeks before their benefits come if they are laid off and forced to claim now. 

“It’s absolutely essential that the chancellor listens to the trade union movement and reboots the furlough scheme so that workers’ Christmas pay packets aren’t empty.”

Carole Green, ITV Cymru Wales work and economy correspondent

Pubs, restaurants and hotels up and down Wales are on a knife edge once again as we approach a second Christmas in the shadow of the pandemic.

This is the time of year when hospitality - a key sector for the Welsh economy - earns its living to see it through the quieter month of January and beyond.

Last year, they lost vital trade at the 11th hour when they were closed down overnight and they don’t want a repeat this year. 

With the emergence of the Omicron variant, some customers it seems are already voting with their feet and canceling or postponing their business, group of family celebrations.

When demand has been strong, hospitality’s growth has been hampered by a lack of staff.

Many restaurants and hotels have already had to cut their services due to staff shortages.