100s of hospitality businesses to go bust by January, warns pub chain boss

The boss of a top pub chain has warned that thousands of pubs, restaurants and cafes across the UK could collapse by the new year as a result of a “fear campaign” and absence of financial support following the major uptick in Omicron cases.

The chief executive of the Young’s chain, Patrick Dardis, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme this afternoon that a surge in Christmas cancellations was bad news for the sector, which heavily relies heavily on December profits.

He accused the government of mixed messaging that left both consumers and business owners “terribly confused” about how to approach bookings at a time when many firms were already “hanging on by their fingernails” following prior restrictions on the industry.

His remarks come after Chief medical officer Professor Chris Whitty told a press conference yesterday evening that people ought to “de-prioritise” events in the lead up to Christmas.

“Unfortunately, with the latest fear campaign that’s being run, it’s damaging so many businesses that could have possibly survived, and as a consequence, thousands and thousands of businesses will now collapse in January”, Dardis explained.

“There are a lot of individual owner-operators who’ve been running their businesses for years and have thrown the kitchen sink – people have lost their marriages, they’re losing their livelihoods, and this is the last straw. This is the bit that they were desperately clinging on to and it’s been taken away from them without any support from government,” he went on.