How we can bounce back from the Covid-19 crisis?

The combination of Covid and Brexit means that our industry is on its knees. The amount of places that have shut down is incredible, and it's shocking. A lot of that is because during the lockdowns in 2020 and 2021, people couldn't afford the lease, and no revenue was coming in.

The other thing that happened because of the lockdowns was that suddenly, hospitality became a tough sell to work in. No one wants to work in this industry. Now, people want to work four days a week, they want to work from home, or they only want to be part-time and work two days a week. That’s just the workers who are still here – so many foreigners, who were the backbone of hospitality, have now left this country.

I’m not sure what this government needs to do, but the current trajectory is not sustainable. This generation just has no interest in hospitality. They would rather work for Tesco, or Amazon, because they get Sundays off and get paid double what you get paid working in a restaurant or hotel. But equally, managers can’t afford to pay waiters £15 or £20 an hour – it’s not sustainable. Paying waiters that much means the restaurant will not make its ROI, it won’t be profitable, and it will eventually shut down. It’s a horrible position to be in.

There is no easy solution for this problem. But one thing that occurs to me is that the rest of the world writes off hospitality. “Oh, if you’re in hospitality, that’s all you can do.” People don’t understand how diverse we are. We know how to make money! We know how to hustle! You could put me in a shoe shop, you could put me in a jewellery shop, and I would make money.

We, the elders in this industry, need to show that diversity to the younger generation. Maybe that means modelling your staff rooms off workplaces like Google, somewhere that people want. Can you imagine, waiters and chefs hanging out and playing foosball in the staff room? It sounds crazy, but we have to look outside our own little bubble for inspiration.

We have to treat people well, but we also have to education them. Tell your young workers, hey, you may be starting out as a waiter on minimum wage, but in a few years’ time you could be a general manager on £180,000.

This, I believe, is the way out of Covid and Brexit. We can’t wait to rely on the government to bail us out – that will be a very long wait, trust me. Instead, we have to work our way back to the top, but educating and mentoring young people, by showing them how great and fun hospitality can be. Sure, we may work harder hours, but look at the family we have, look at the experiences we have. That is how we, as an industry, will start to stand tall once again.