Recession is coming and it is in large part an act of self-harm perpetrated by a government preoccupied with its own internal troubles and narrow political doctrines.
Read MoreIt is neither understandable nor forgivable that the massive machinery of Government seems incapable of using the basic rules of management like communication and business planning. The whole hospitality sector is now beholden to the politicians because of the draconian restrictions they have imposed since March last year and we are desperate to know what comes next.
Read MoreSooner or later the Government will have to realise that we cannot continue on this merry go round of lockdown and ease up. They need to allow some of our innate citizens’ rights to be restored. Lockdowns will only suppress the virus until the next time and hospitality businesses across the UK cannot survive the constant on/off trip switch.
Read MoreTo paraphrase James Carville, Bill Clinton’s strategist in 1992, ‘It’s the culture stupid’. Any business that wants to achieve its potential should focus on the collective effort of its people in the pursuit of a common goal. As a result of this crisis I have refocussed on the hotel culture and what we need to do to succeed.
Read MoreWe have moved from a rule-based environment to one that is more flexible but there is still a demand for certainty where it doesn’t exist, and a lack of clarity encourages risk aversion. ‘Stay Home Save Lives’ was a massively successful message but where is the equally direct message to save our economy? Perhaps ‘Go Out Save Jobs’ should become the new mantra.
Read MoreI am a great believer that you need to have skin in the game and failure is a great motivator, but we have to ask, what does failure look like for the decision makers? The future of huge swathes of the economy and the viability of businesses that have taken many years to develop needs to move up their list of priorities.
Read MoreIt’s started…
Hotels up and down the country are beginning the redundancy conversations.
Hats off to the government for the furlough Job Retention Scheme and CBILS loans but the absence of a firm reopening start (is it going to be July 4th), flaky reopening guidelines and now a 14-day quarantine period for UK arrivals means that shedding jobs is an inevitability for the hospitality sector.
Read MoreIn our weaker moments some of us used the yearn for a day without any customers in the hotel.
The patient explanation that the bar was now closed to the wedding guest that had been drinking for 12 hours as your shift went into its fifteenth. The regular customer oblivious to the queue building at reception as they told you about their latest cruise, insensitive to the phones ringing unanswered. The diner requiring an explanation for the meagre variety of vegetarian options while the checks piled up in the kitchen.
The problem is that it is not much fun without guests.
Read MoreThe Covid-19 pandemic is a truly unprecedented event but when we come out of the other end, there will be an assessment not only of the medical response to the emergency but the decisions that individual businesses and industry sectors made.
Read MoreTim Rumney, chairman of Best Western Great Britain, said insurers were “nothing short of a national disgrace” as many of his hotels were told they could not make a claim on their policies.
Read MoreHow many times have we watched the latest TV reality show…couple disenchanted with the rat-race decide to throw it all in and start a new idyllic life as (wait for it) – hoteliers. Of course, it usually ends in disaster with long hours, staffing issues, unhappy customers and cashflow problems…
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