The jobs of 15,000 employees in the UK food and drink sector are at risk, according to a study by Hospitality Ulster, the Northern Ireland Hotels Federation and accountancy firm BDO.

Restaurants, bars and hotels are closed almost all over the world for around 2 months. While some countries are gradually lifting the bans, the opening dates are still unclear in some countries. The UK food and drink sector, which has closed for around 2 months, has an expected turnover loss in the sector this year of over £ 1 billion, according to research by Hospitality Ulster, the Northern Ireland Hotels Federation and accountancy firm BDO. It states that 1 out of every 4 businesses that close their doors will never be able to open their doors again. There are warnings that 40% of restaurants, 25% of hotels and 1 out of every 7 bars are at risk of not being able to open their doors again. The number of businesses that will not reopen is determined to be 440, while the expected unemployment reaches 15,800. According to Clodagh Rice’s article on the BBC, this research is based on the assumption that businesses will be closed until the end of August and when they do open, they will have to reduce their capacity by 33%. However, when restaurants and bars are allowed to open, business owners do not find it financially sustainable to reduce the number of customers.