Hancock confirms London to enter Tier 3

By Lisa Riley

Published: 14 December, 2020

Matt Hancock has confirmed that London will move into Tier 3 Covid restrictions from Wednesday, alongside parts of Essex and Hertfordshire.

The health secretary said the Tier 3 measures will come into force one minute past midnight on Wednesday, meaning all bars, pubs and restaurants must stay closed except for delivery and takeaway.

In response to the “devastating news”, Kate Nicholls, CEO of UK Hospitality, told BBC News that closing London hospitality businesses during the busiest trading period of the year [the last two weeks in December] would wipe out £2.7bn from the capital’s economy.

Moreover, Nicholls said she feared that there would be 160,000 jobs that would be put at risk.

“Those people simply can't now be be able to be employed throughout the first quarter of next year without the revenues being generated during December, so it's a very bleak time for hospitality across the capital,” she said.

Last month, following Hancock’s announcement on 26 November on which areas would head into which tier following the lockdown, UK Hospitality said that should the restrictions last the entire month of December, an estimated £7.8bn worth of trading would be wiped out across the sector when compared to 2019.

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