Hospitality businesses across London should be given a rent and business rates holiday to help them cope with the disruption caused by tube strikes, according to leading audit, tax and advisory firm Blick Rothenberg.
Andrew Sanford, a partner at the firm, said many restaurants, bars and cafés are located in Transport for London (TfL) properties, and urged the Mayor, Sadiq Khan, to step in with immediate support.
“The Mayor should give them a rent and business rates holiday for the strike period if they are in affected postcodes,” Sanford said.
The strikes come at a time when the hospitality industry is already grappling with rising costs, including higher employers’ National Insurance contributions, increases in the national living wage, and the broader pressures of the cost-of-living crisis. Sanford warned that a week of “negligible footfall” could be devastating for small operators already under financial strain.
“While offices can adapt with home working, that option is not open to an already stressed sector that requires in-person work for a number of roles,” he explained. “London hospitality businesses will have to consider if it is better to close for the week to try and preserve cash.”
Sanford also cautioned that public sympathy for union demands of a reduced working week may be limited, given the growing pressures on small business owners who are already working longer hours to save costs.
He said the impact of strike action would fall hardest on those employed on zero-hour contracts.
“Hospitality employees on zero-hour contracts will be affected the most. They are only paid for the hours they work, meaning they may lose out on an entire week’s wages.”
The comments underline the fragility of London’s hospitality industry as industrial action continues to disrupt daily life in the capital, raising further questions about what more City Hall could do to protect one of the city’s most important sectors.
