Coronavirus: Let us open now, hotels demand
Hotels cross the Black Country and Staffordshire today demanded a decision on a reopening date as they declared: “We are ready for business.”
The hospitality sector is hoping it may get the green light to start up again at the start of July.
But no firm date has yet been given and thousands of workers have either lost their jobs or remain furloughed.
The AA has now set up a ‘Covid Confident’ accreditation scheme to help instil public confidence in domestic tourism as measures ease.
But hotel owners say all the steps they have taken to prepare for reopening will be for nothing unless ministers can provide clarity.
Tettenhall’s Mount Hotel Country Manor reduced its staffing from almost 100 to just five after it was forced to close up. Those that have remained have spent their time ensuring measures are in place to keep guests safe when it is able to open its doors.
Director Scott Bernard said: “To attract customers, we have got to show that we are a really safe place to stay. We have installed a thermal CCTV system, where the camera can take up 30 people’s temperatures as they walk through the door.”
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He said all guests will be required to use the foot-operated hand-cleansing dispenser on arrival, and a new delivery point is being created to ensure that all delivered goods are sanitised before they enter the building.
While it is not clear when the restaurant will be allowed to reopen, glass screens have been installed between tables to ensure public safety.
Mr Bernard says it was hoped the beer garden would be able to reopen and the hotel has installed personal beer pumps at its outdoor tables, allowing guests to pull their own pints.
The hotel has also installed two new high-temperature washing machines, and all staff are getting extra training and being equipped with protective clothing. Rooms will be sanitised and sealed before guests arrive.
Mr Bernard said: “We have antibacterial and antiviral wrapping placed on all door handles and light switches, and seals are place on all bedrooms once they have been cleaned.”
Prime Minister Boris Johnson has hinted at July 4 as a date to reopen. The two-metre social distancing rule is also under review.
But without certainty, the hospitality sector cannot plan.
The Macdonald hotel chain, announced last week 1,800 staff were at risk of redundancy, saying it had “no choice”.
UK Hospitality boss Kate Nicholls said: “We need confirmation of the reopening date without any further delay.
They say they are ready to host visiting guests once again, but there is still no idea when the check-in will begin
Few industries have seen such rapid growth in the West Midlands over the past couple of decades as the hotel and hospitality industries, and few have been as severely affected by the coronavirus lockdown.
While workers in factories, shops, offices and construction sites have gradually started returning to work, the hotel trade remains in lockdown.
Hotels are big business in the UK. According to trade body UK Hospitality, the leisure and tourism sector accounts for five per cent of Britain’s GDP, and 10 per cent of employment.
It is also one that has been worst hit by the lockdown.
With no firm date set for reopening, hotels have been left with little choice but to assume they may be able to open at the start of next month, and put safety measures in place.
Some hotels, such as the Mercure in Telford, have been able to remain open by housing essential workers who need to stay away from home to prevent the spread of the disease.
Others, such as The Prince Rupert in Shrewsbury, have opened their doors to homeless people. But for the majority, it has simply been a case of shutting up shop until the crisis is over.
Scott Bernard, managing director of the Mount Hotel Country Manor hotel in Tettenhall, Wolverhampton, says it has been a difficult time for the trade.
“It’s an incredibly tough time for our industry and we have faced an economic quarter with no income,” he says.
The Mount made its first tentative steps to reopening by launching a takeaway meal service, beginning with a traditional roast dinner, followed by afternoon teas which people will be able to collect Monday to Friday.
Preparations are also being made to reopen next month.
“We’re opening on July 4 unless we are told we can’t,” says Mr Bernard, adding that the hotel already has many firm bookings in place.
Even when the hospitality trade is allowed to resume business, concerns have been expressed that many of the measures imposed by the Government will mean there is little chance of the industry picking up where it left off.
Mark Pritchard, MP for The Wrekin, has voiced concerns in the House of Commons that the 14-day quarantine period, imposed on almost everybody arriving in this country from abroad, will have a significant impact on tourism in the region.
His colleague in North Shropshire, Owen Paterson, says it is vital the two-metre social distancing rule is reduced to one metre.
“The whole hospitality industry depends on having good trade in summer, and we really need to get this moving again,” he says.
“I was at a meeting of Shropshire Hospitality a few weeks ago, and they told me that with the two-metre rule in place, they can operate at 30 per cent of normal capacity, but if this is reduced to one metre, they can operate at 70 per cent.”
The pressures are being felt across the industry.
The all-party parliamentary group for hospitality and tourism reports that just 11 per cent of businesses in the sector have been able to operate normally during the lockdown. It adds that international tourist arrivals are likely to be down 59 per cent for the year.
The group’s chairman, Steve Double MP, says: “The UK’s hospitality and tourism sectors have been devastated by the Covid-19 crisis and this report highlights the scale of the damage done to businesses.
“These are two of the most important parts of our economy and our inquiry has highlighted the importance of supporting these vital sectors in both the immediate and long term.” Gordon Fraser, deputy chairman of the Macdonald hotel chain, announced last week 1,800 of the company’s 2,200 workers were at risk of redundancy.
“We had really hoped to avoid this very unwelcome step, but with no realistic prospects of a return to anything like normal trading for the foreseeable future, we were simply left with no choice,” Mr Fraser said.
“The Government’s furlough scheme has helped to a degree but our essential operating costs, insurance and some wages are still having to be paid, meaning our monthly cash outgoings are still running at £2 million while we are forced to remain closed.”
UK Hospitality is calling on the Government to confirm a reopening date for hospitality so businesses can prepare for a return to trading. Chief executive Kate Nicholls says: “We need confirmation of the reopening date for hospitality businesses without any further delay.
Importance
“Businesses need time to prepare and the first step in giving them some much-needed clarity is confirmation of when they can open their doors again.”
She says this is particularly important for hotels and tourism, where 60 per cent of bookings are made more than two weeks in advance.
“If the sector is to reopen on July 4, that only gives us two weeks, so time is of the essence.”
Mrs Nicholls says the recent GDP figures, with hospitality and tourism representing a quarter of the total decline, illustrated the importance of the sector.
“The country can ill afford delaying their return to trading,” she says.
“If we want the reopening to be a success, we must have confirmation of the reopening date, alongside Covid secure guidelines for the sector, supported by a commitment from the Government to support tourism and hospitality businesses.”
She backs calls from the all-party parliamentary group to cut tourism VAT and air passenger duty, an extension of the rent moratorium and the creation of an autumn Bank Holiday.
Mr Double says there is no doubt that the industry faces a challenging future, but says it can recover if it gets the right help.
“The path to recovery will be tough,” he says.
He adds: “There is every reason to believe that businesses can bounce back if they have the correct support from Westminster and devolved governments.”
The management of both The Mount Hotel in Wolverhampton and the Mercure in Telford seem hopeful business will recover once the restrictions are eased.
Mercure general manager Michael Kuc believes trade will come back, even if it takes a little while for people to regain confidence.
“It is up to us to reassure people they will be safe here,” he says.
“I think if people cannot travel abroad, the staycation will become popular, and a lot of people will be wanting to visit us.”
It’s given us chance to refurbish
At the start of the year things could not have been going better for the Mount Hotel Country Manor in Tettenhall, Wolverhampton.
With a hatful of awards, and a 90 per cent occupancy rate, The Mount was riding on the crest of a wave, and looking forward to a busy summer.
Then came the lockdown.
“The Government said that all hospitality businesses had to close down, and that was it,” says director Scott Bernard.
“When we were shutting the hotel down, it was heartbreaking. But now we’re trying to focus on the positive, that it gives us an opportunity to refurbish the hotel, and do all the jobs it is difficult to do when you have guests staying.”
While some hotels were able to stay open by accommodating essential workers or the homeless, for The Mount the lockdown meant just that. An empty building, save for a handful of staff keeping the place in order.
“We furloughed our staff, we have got some staff in to clean and maintain the hotel,” he says. “Before we closed, we had 98 members of staff in the hotel, now there’s about four or five.”
Mr Bernard, who runs the hotel with his father Roy, who owns the business, and his brother Brett, says it was a little eerie at first seeing the building with no guests in, but the team quickly focused on ensuring it will be ready for when it reopens next month.
