National Hospitality Day is a nationwide celebration of the UK’s brilliant and resilient restaurants, hotels, pubs and bars, and the suppliers that support them. On one amazing day in September, the event hopes to spark the mother of all parties – and all to help businesses that have been thrown to their knees by Covid-19.
As a nation, we play out our biggest life events in hospitality businesses, from first dates to wedding celebrations, and from baby showers to toasting the departed. They’re where the moments that make life worth living take place: the morning chat with your friendly barista, the pint after work with pals, a soak in a warm pool, Sunday roast with the family, a comfortable bed after a long journey…
Hospitality can be a challenging industry in which to work. Many factors – long hours, low pay, the adrenaline of service – can conspire to raise stress levels. And hospitality workers are of course prone to all the challenges – physical, mental, financial – that affect the human condition. We’re asking the nation to go out to help out.
Mark Lewis, chief executive of Hospitality Action, which conceived the concept, said: “The hospitality industry has been the hardest hit by the pandemic, with thousands of businesses and livelihoods lost. Even as the economy slowly unlocks, the hospitality sector is still unable to fully reopen with restrictions keeping businesses closed or struggling to turn a profit.
“The hospitality industry provides community hubs, employment and a huge contribution to the public purse. Our lives will be poorer without them. On one amazing day, we’re going to spark the mother of all parties – and all to help the businesses that have been thrown to their knees by Covid-19, and the people who work in them.”
