Restaurants, pubs and retail stores in Britain are urgently calling for more government assistance, complaining that stepped-up restrictions announced this month to combat a Covid surge are choking off business.
Organizations representing more than 100,000 businesses sent an open letter to Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Monday, saying that more tax relief and grants were needed.
Although the surge of coronavirus cases brought on by the fast-moving Omicron variant has not yet resulted in the kind of strict lockdown imposed by the Dutch government over the weekend, British businesses argue that the combination of mask mandates, vaccination requirements and uncertainty during the peak holiday season imperils their survival.
The retail, hospitality and leisure sectors “are teetering on the brink,” said Matthew Sims, who helped orchestrate the campaign and leads a business improvement group in Croydon, south of London. Calling the current aid insufficient, Mr. Sims said that “the measures were put in place for an open economy that was starting to recover; we are no longer in that space.”
Restaurants, pubs and bars have said that since the government added a new series of restrictions, known as Plan B, on Dec. 8 as a response to the highly transmissible Omicron variant, dinner and party cancellations have been rolling in and foot traffic has disappeared in some areas.
At Gordon’s Wine Bar in central London, the festive season was beginning to take hold — and then it wasn’t.
“You could feel Christmas was coming, the buzz, the lights were on,” said Amanda Whiteside, the administration manager of Gordon’s, which describes itself as the city’s oldest wine bar. Before the surge gained momentum, it was common to find every table in its cavelike cellar and on its outdoor patio full and a long line of customers waiting to get in.
“And then it was gone,” Ms. Whiteside said. “It was very dramatic.”
Customers thinned out and several staff members got Covid, she said. Gordon’s is now offering only outside service, and Ms. Whiteside estimates that sales are down about 25 percent.
The Coach and Horses pub in Soho is similarly contending with fewer customers and sick staff. Last week, business was off by a third of what would normally be expected, while on Monday, it fell “off the edge of a cliff,” said Alison Ross, the manager.
Three of the four full-time staff members and two of the four part-timers had contracted Covid. Ms. Ross has hired temporary help and plans to close several hours early on a couple of days.
The Coach and Horses is one of roughly 400 pubs owned by Fuller, Smith & Turner, which started out as a brewing company. Simon Emeny, the chief executive, has called on the Johnson government for more aid.
“We are right back to where we were in March 2020 with the government keeping hospitality open, while effectively telling the public not to socialize,” Mr. Emeny said in statement. “December should be our busiest trading period — and the revenue generated during this time is crucial for the sector.”
The company has temporarily closed 20 pubs, a spokeswoman said.
Ms. Whiteside at Gordon’s said that the government had previously been generous with support, but she was uncertain of what it should do next. “I wouldn’t want to be in those shoes,” she said. “They’re in a no-win position.”
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