The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, should give hospitality businesses a rent and rate holiday so they can weather the tube strikes, say leading audit, tax and business advisory firm, Blick Rothenberg.
Andrew Sanford, a Partner at the firm, said, “Many hospitality units are in Transport For London (TFL) property and Sadiq Khan should give them a rent and business rates holiday for the strike period if they are in affected postcodes.”
He added, “The hospitality sector has been hit by rising Employers National Insurance Contributions (NIC), the cost-of-living crisis and increases in the living wage. It can ill afford a week of negligible footfall caused by these strikes without getting some form of support.
“While offices can adapt with home working, that option is not open to an already under stress sector that requires in person work for a number of roles. London hospitality businesses will have to consider if it is better to close for the week to try and preserve cash.
“At a time when owners of small hospitality businesses are working longer hours as they can ill afford extra staff, the union demands of a reduced working week may garner little favour.
“Hospitality employees on zero-hour contracts will be affected by the Union action the most. They are only paid for the hours they work, meaning they may lose out on an entire week’s wages.”
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