Des Gunewardena of D&D London, which runs high-end City restaurants including Coq D’Argent, said that some of his sites had lost out on more than £200,000 of sales in the past fortnight. He added: “The Chancellor’s announcement of £6,000 per site for businesses like ours is wholly and shockingly inadequate.”
Large pub and restaurant groups also pushed for more help. Patrick Dardis, the chief executive of Young’s, said the support announced on Tuesday appeared a “very small help given the cancellations and huge reduction in trade”.
Tim Rumney, the chief executive of Best Western hotels, said: “Rishi’s support is like a dud cracker on Christmas Day. It’s just so disappointing and underwhelming in every sense.”
The cash awards will vary according to the size of each business. Premises valued at more than £51,000 under the business rates regime will be eligible for the full £6,000, those with a rateable value between £15,000 and £51,000 are being offered £4,000, and smaller operations will get £2,666.
There will also be £100m of discretionary funding to be distributed by councils to other businesses hit by Covid restrictions this festive season, and the Treasury said it will reintroduce a scheme to cover the cost of statutory sick pay for Covid-related absences for small and medium-sized employers across the UK. Another £30m is being made available for the culture industry.
The Government suggested that it does not intend to offer any further support, highlighting that hospitality companies now have £7bn more cash than when the crisis started while insolvencies have fallen.
Announcing the latest measures, it said: “The effectiveness of government policies to support the economy through the pandemic and the success of businesses in learning to adapt means the economy is in a different place now than it was at the start of the crisis.”
Investors cheered the update despite the disappointment from some businesses, lifting the share price of a number of listed restaurant and pub chains including Wagamama owner The Restaurant Group, which closed more than 6pc higher, and the pub operator Marston’s which ended the day up 4.9pc.
It follows days of pressure on Mr Sunak, who cut short a trip to the US to deal with the crisis amid concerns that thousands of businesses which have made it through successive lockdowns were about to go bust. Industry chiefs were particularly concerned about a £1.5bn quarterly rent bill due on Christmas Eve.
Ms Nicholls, of UK Hospitality, was part of talks with the Treasury ahead of Mr Sunak’s announcement. She said: “This is a generous package building on existing hospitality support measures to provide an immediate emergency cash injection for those businesses who, though no fault of their own, have seen their most valuable trading period decimated.”
However, lobby groups in the travel industry reacted with dismay after being left out.
