The Government has today launched The Hospitality Strategy, focused on supporting the reopening, recovery and resilience of England’s pubs, restaurants, cafes and nightclubs.
The Strategy sets out measures including:
- Making it easier for pubs, restaurants and cafes on the high street to offer al fresco dining by extending pavement licences.
- Allowing off-sales of alcohol to be extended for another 12 months, meaning takeaway pints will continue.
- Exploring options for vocational skills and training that support careers in the sector.
- Highlighting opportunities in the hospitality industry to jobseekers through DWP’s dedicated work coaches.
- Supporting innovation and productivity by using the Government’s Help to Grow programmes to strengthen the sector’s digital and management skills.
- Helping the sector reduce emissions, including by cutting waste and single-use plastic consumption.
- Working with the government-owned British Business Bank and directly with lenders to support access to finance for hospitality businesses.
A new Hospitality Sector Council made up of industry leaders and government is being created to oversee the delivery of the strategy.
This comes as the £150 million Community Ownership Fund launched yesterday, giving people across the UK the chance to run local pubs at risk of closure as community-owned businesses. Communities will be able to bid for up to £250,000 matched funding.
Business Minister Paul Scully said:
"The pandemic has meant we’ve had to stay apart, and this has had a big impact on the hospitality industry, which exists to bring people together. We’ve been working with hospitality businesses throughout the pandemic to understand what support they need to not only reopen, but change and improve how they do things to meet changing consumer demands and protect jobs and livelihoods.
We want young people to see the hospitality sector as a go-to option for long-term careers, and that’s why we will explore new options for vocational training and help further boost the creativity and environmental friendliness of the sector through the first-ever government strategy for the hospitality industry."
