Here’s how the train strikes will impact hospitality
Transport strikes are going to happen as the recently rejected offer made by transport bosses was followed by an announcement of further strike dates. Hospitality is forecasted to lose £1.5bn on those days, but what will this actually look like?
A new wave of fresh rail strikes have been scheduled this winter as Network Rail and 14 other train companies are taking strike action on 13, 14, 16 and 17 December and on 3, 4, 6 and 7 January.
However, the chief executive of UKHospitality, Kate Nicholls, is worried about the knock-on effect these strikes will have on staffs’ abilities to make it into work and the disruption it will cause on consumers’ plans.
These strikes, which follow a flurry of other transport strikes that took place during the summer, are set to disturb the hospitality sector’s busiest time of the year. Nicholls anticipates a huge drop in sales for venues across the sector “just as everyone was anticipating an uninterrupted Christmas period for the first time in three years”, she said in a statement on the matter.
Though she encouraged all parties to find a resolution to avoid disruptions, the RMT recently rejected the offer for an 8% rise in pay and a guarantee of no compulsory redundancies until April 2024. Union members have been recommended to reject the latest offer in favour of adding 24 to 27 December to its scheduled strike days.
As it stands, the strikes mapped out for December 2022 and January 2023 are due to cost the sector £1.5bn on each day that transport is disrupted, but when you break that sum up and define it in real terms, what does it look like?
Besides the simple and obvious effects of the strikes such as limited transport services for both staff and consumers, the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) has also emerged to voice its concerns that many small brewers will have no other choice but to close their doors for good following reduced customers due to strikes and soaring energy prices. CAMRA’s worries are not unfounded, as data revealed last month that roughly 50 pubs close every month, while The Morning Advertiser found that 70% of pubs do not expect to make it through the winter.
Knowing about the strikes in advance also means that consumers have been cancelling bookings in droves, which is another hit to a sector that was looking forward to the Christmas rush. Many travel during the Christmas season, whether that is getting home to visit relatives or opting to celebrate Christmas somewhere else, and although bookings are a good way to gauge how many people will be expected to show up on a given date, this season might be one of spontaneity and trying out new venues closer to home without the need of trains or buses.
Many within the sector, from the Night Time Industries Association to Fullers pub group, have urged the transport secretary to bring all negotiating parties together to find a settlement in order to stop the strikes and their consequences, but as things stand, we will have to wait for updates.
