UK: According to analysis by Wireless Social, yesterday showed a 44 per cent drop in footfall compared to the same day last year, with last week totalling a 28 per cent fall.
Hospitality companies could be expected to make a number of redundancies this week following a major drop in footfall.
Information acquired by Wireless Social shows a 47 per cent drop in footfall across London on Sunday 15 March, followed by 39 per cent on Saturday and 31 per cent on Friday.
Of the cities most affected, Liverpool suffered a drop in footfall of 52 per cent yesterday and 37 per cent on Saturday, whereas Cardiff saw a 34 per cent decline on Sunday and 59 per cent on Saturday.
The aggregated data looks at footfall in over 800 venues nationally, focusing mainly on major cities.
Jonathan Downey, founder and chief executive of London Union, warned that restaurants and bars could have just four to six weeks left before they run into cash flow issues.
“The budget was a complete waste of time in hindsight… it is just meaningless now because things are moving so quickly and in 48 hours the entire landscape changed. We need a huge response and we need it quickly,” Downey said.
Over the weekend, trade association UKHospitality called on the British government to better its strategy for dealing with the coronavirus crisis, suggesting temporary redundancies with Universal Credit to help cover wage costs.
“If we don’t get that support, by May we will be facing business failures and a significant number jobs at risk,” writes Kate Nicholls, chief executive, in a letter to Rishi Sunak, the Chancellor of the Exchequer.
