Croydon pub landlord accuses PM of ‘missing in action’ after losing 250 bookings in one day

By Tara O’Connor, Local Democracy Reporter

A Croydon pub landlord has blasted Boris Johnson after he saw more than 250 bookings cancelled in one day.

Andrew Taylor, the owner of the Mr Fox pub in Croydon, said the prime minister was ‘missing in action’ as he told the Local Democracy Reporting Service he was fighting to protect his business.

In what is usually the busiest time of year for hospitality, Christmas revellers have been avoiding going to pubs and restaurants as the new Covid variant sweeps the capital.

But Mr Fox has had to start cutting down hours for its staff as there is no longer the demand.

On Friday, December 17 it had 300 bookings – but just 42 went ahead.

Landlord Mr Taylor said: “On average we are seeing up to 60 per cent cancellations. It feels like the first week of January.

“Like most hospitality businesses we make our money in December to see us through January.

“We are doing whatever we can to protect the future of the business. Unfortunately staff hours have had to be cut because there is no demand, they are not required in what would traditionally be a very, very busy time of year.

“We were fully booked up until Christmas Eve and have seen quite a stark drop.”

On Thursday, Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced that all hospitality businesses would be able to claim a one-off £6,000 grant.

While this was welcomed by Mr Taylor, he thinks more needs to be done.

He added: “There is still no clarity, we are still lacking direction from a Prime Minister who is missing in action.”

Matthew Sims, chair of the Croydon Business Improvement District (BID), fears that the drop in trade could force hospitality venues to go out of business.

“It is a terrible time for hospitality, the government announced Plan B on December 8 but only provided financial support two weeks later,” he said.

“Cancellations are through the roof for a lot of out popular venues and bars at the best trading period of the year. It is simply not sustainable, businesses are struggling they were relaying on the Christmas trading period.

“Without customers coming through the door customers are going to be hard pushed are going to be hard pushed to survive through into the new year. I am concerned for Croydon. Those than run businesses have put everything into them only to see it taken away.”

In a tweet, Croydon council’s cabinet member for business recovery said the authority had written to Mr Sunak requesting support for businesses before the grants were announced.

She added: “We hope Government will also consider our request to reintroduce business rates relief for these sectors.”