- December 16, 2021
- Posted by: Stratford Team
- Category: Business
Rishi Sunak cut short his stay in California and was flying back to the UK on Thursday night after furious business leaders demanded he put together a financial support package to help them survive a plunge in trade that they blamed on mixed messages from the government.
The chancellor said he had spoken to representatives of the hard-hit hospitality sector and indicated he would be examining measures to help firms stay afloat, amid a flood of cancellations.
Hospitality industry figures had earlier accused the government of turning its back on struggling businesses by “frightening” people into staying at home while failing to offer support to venues reeling from the resulting plunge in trade.
The pub industry reported 3.2m cancellations last week alone and predicted 37m fewer pints would be sold, at a cost of £237m. Trade body UKHospitality estimated the cost to the wider industry at £4bn, with takings down by a quarter and expected to fall again by…
