Nearly one-third of hospitality businesses have little confidence they will survive the next three months

Many hospitality businesses are fearful for their future, new government figures reveal.

The latest survey of the impacts of coronavirus on businesses by the ONS found that “the accommodation and food service activities industry had the highest percentage of businesses with no or low confidence that their businesses would survive the next three months, at 32%”.

Other findings include:

  • The accommodation and food service activities industry had the lowest percentage of businesses currently trading, at 75%, compared with 85% across all industries.
  • Between Wave 12 (10 to 23 August 2020) and Wave 16 (5 to 18 October 2020), the trend in the percentages of businesses experiencing a decrease in turnover has flattened.
  • In Wave 16 (5 to 18 October 2020), 8% of the workforce were on furlough leave, compared with 30% in Wave 7 (1 to 14 June 2020).
  • The accommodation and food service activities industry had the highest percentage of businesses with no cash reserves, at 6%, compared with 3% across all industries.
  • Of businesses not permanently stopped trading, 17% intend to use increased homeworking as a permanent business model in the future.