HU Welcomes PM and Chancellor Measures

20 March 2020

HU Welcomes PM and Chancellor Measures

Reacting to the statement by the Prime Minister and the measures laid out by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rishi Sunak, this evening, Colin Neill, Chief Executive, Hospitality Ulster said:

“We welcome the direction by the Prime Minister on closures. It’s not an easy thing to accept, but now we know where we stand and can start the process of full close from tonight.”

 

“We also welcome the suite of financial interventions that has been announced by the Chancellor which includes the new Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme that will be made available to any business with no limit on this fund. We now need to make sure that this emergency financial measure gets to our people as quickly as possible.”

 

“This is a comprehensive package on face value, and we hope that this has not come too late for many in our sector. The greater certainty that employers and employees alike have on the salary commitment through the wage protection scheme will reduce anxiety and the fear that people may not have been paid. This will save and retain jobs and businesses alike.”

 

“In only a matter of days our industry has been decimated with thousands of redundancies and temporary layoffs. This has been the biggest economic shock in living memory.”

 

“We now need to examine the detail in this package and ensure our sector can avail of as many of the measures as possible to save our sector.”