UKHospitality Wales Director David Chapman today met with Vaughan Gething MS, the new Welsh Government Economy Minister, to raise sector concerns relating to Covid recovery.
At the meeting, Chapman set out the urgent need for further relaxation of restrictions, warned of the financial damage inflicted by enforced sub-viable trading and 2m social distancing, and advised of chronic staffing shortages and of the desperation of still-shut parts of the hospitality sector.
He told the Minister of the perilous financial position of most hospitality businesses and proposed consideration of a new, nine-month, “smart” funding strategy to help businesses survive, recover and protect jobs going forward.
Chapman said “In a valuable hour-long meeting which brought key industry representatives together to brief the new Minister, Mr.Gething clearly recognised the critical and fragile position of many hospitality businesses while trading under existing restrictions.
“I welcome the Minister’s receipt of the issues and concerns of our members, and his positive response to our offer of continued engagement. We hope to reconvene discussions in early July and UKHospitality Cymru will keep him informed of latest developments through our day-to-day conversations with his officials.”
During the discussions, Chapman also championed the essential need to position hospitality at the very heart of the next five year’s economic policy in Wales.
