At the end of part I, I told you that I would talk in greater depth about our local businesses, heroes and how we can help to change things together.
But as I settle down to write, the Bank of England has just announced the latest interest rate rise; we are now at 3%. The Old Lady of Threadneedle Street asserts that it is her duty to try to counter high inflation. For good measure, she adds that the UK faces the longest recession since records began and unemployment is set to rise.
Since last week’s article, which started with a small item on local news, the story has been picked up nationally and two of my colleagues and workmates, Tom Kerridge and Jason Atherton were on the ITV news highlighting the issue. Hospitality Action, the charity that’s been supporting catering workers since 1837, have launched a ‘Cost of Living Emergency Appeal’. HospoDemo, an advocacy group for our industry, have revealed that in the last three months, 2230 hospitality businesses have closed. Indeed in The Caterer this morning, Will Devlin announced the closure with immediate effect of his restaurant The Curlew in Bodiam, that some of you might know.
We’ve seen why this is so important to Rye, so let’s try to work out how we got here; to examine “the perfect storm” that Martin Blincow described. In alphabetical order: Brexit, energy prices, inflation, the pandemic and the war in Ukraine.
The war has had the dual effect of increasing food costs and energy prices. Prior to its invasion, Ukraine was regarded as the bread basket of Europe and produced 12% of the world’s wheat. This affects the price of your groceries like bread, pasta, biscuits, cereals, cakes and snacks, to name but a few. Or your pizza during the week, or your Yorkshire pudding on a Sunday. Or the purchase costs of your local pubs, clubs, cafes, bars, restaurants and hotels.
Your energy bills are spiralling out of control, but you have a glimmer of hope in the Energy Price Cap. Businesses are not subject to that; an Energy Bill Relief Scheme was implemented from October 1, but is scheduled to last only six months. Hit number two for pubs, clubs, cafes, bars, restaurants and hotels.
The pandemic not only affected us all, but changed us as a society. Furlough helped keep many going, though the 3 million exempt from help won’t feel quite as warmly about it. One of these changes is the reassessment of work-life balance. Not a bad thing on the whole, but also one of the reasons for staff shortages. Many stepped off the treadmill and just haven’t returned, to hospitality or many other sectors.
At this point I need to mention what is all too often ignored. Every country in the world has been through the pandemic. Furlough was par for the course in most countries. Every country is suffering from energy price rises. Different governments deal with this in different ways, absorbing more, or less in our case, of the burden. That’s every country; we’re not unique, or soldiering on alone against the odds. Every western nation is therefore on a level playing field.
There’s just one country that decided to impose economic sanctions on itself, adding immeasurably to its woes and that’s Brexit Britain. If you’re now thinking, here we go, another Guardian-reading, tofu-eating member of the wokerati, try to put any personal feelings aside and think of our town.
The double whammy of leaving the customs union and abolishing freedom of movement, has been nothing short of catastrophic; to my industry, the NHS, banking, the arts, the car industry, farming…The long running cost to the economy of this country, is predicted to be greater than that of the pandemic. By alienating many of the workforce and then preventing their replacement, while not encouraging our own youngsters into the business, we’ve completely reduced what was once the third largest industry in the country, to its knees.
And finally…a spoiler alert. Next week will be full of hope and optimism. I’m a fourth generation restaurateur, The Mermaid Inn, in its present form, has been welcoming travellers for 600 years; people will always need hospitality. Rye is full of dynamic, determined professionals, like Jane Brook, the new chair of the Chamber of Commerce, who held a meeting this week aimed at understanding and solving some of the problems faced by local businesses. And of course you, wonderful people of Rye, I’ll also give you a role to play in helping our industry and therefore our town and country to survive and prosper, because #hospitalityrocks.
Image Credits: Natasha Robinson .