Celebrity chef Yotam Ottolenghi claims takings at his London restaurants have plunged by 90% in a year and reveals curfew and Tier 2 ‘left him begging to be shutdown’

Celebrity chef Yotam Ottolenghi has today claimed takings at his London restaurants have plunged by 90 per cent in a year as he also revealed how Tier 2 has left him ‘kind of begging to be shutdown’.

The London restaurateur and food writer said the restrictions, in place in the capital and other areas such as Essex and the north east, were ‘depriving’ businesses of trade – without the support from government. 

Government chiefs have agreed multimillion-pound deals to help areas under the highest Tier 3 restrictions – where bars which do not serve food have been forced to shut.

But, until today, no packages had been agreed with Tier 2 areas – where people from different households are banned from meeting in indoor settings.

However, this afternoon Rishi Sunak announced billions of pounds in support for stricken bars and restaurants under Tier Two lockdown and the self-employed. 

Speaking to BBC Radio Four’s Today Programme before the announcement, Mr Ottolenghi, who owns six restaurants in the capital said: ‘In all honesty, it’s terrible, we’re on our knees now. 

‘After having had the rule of six and the 10pm curfew, now we’ve got the single household rule that came with the Tier 2 set of regulations.

‘We just don’t have customers coming through the door.

‘If we compare to a year ago with 100 percent, only last week, before Tier 2 regulations came about, we were at 50 percent. Now we’re at 10 percent. This is just not a viable place for a restaurant to be in.

‘I’m sick of worry for the jobs for my staff and staff of other restaurants and hospitality businesses across the land that are stuck in this cursed Tier 2 category, which deprives us of oxygen but doesn’t give us any support. It’s ludicrous.’ 

He added: ‘Ironically, I’m kind of begging to be shut down, I can’t believe I’m saying that.

‘But it is the sad reality that had we been shut down and not been put into this miserable slow death then at least we know we’d get some kind of support.

‘Some kind of furlough for our staff as the job support scheme kicks in if you are forced to shut down by the Government.’

He warned that businesses will start ‘falling in the next few days’ if something isn’t done.

But in a surprise move, Mr Sunak this afternoon made a dramatic Commons statement, in which he boosted support for sectors like hospitality after a wave of anger at ‘loopholes’ in his existing provision.

He said he had listened to industry leaders and recognised that ‘open but struggling businesses require further support’.

‘Their message was clear – the impact of the health restrictions on their businesses is worse than they hoped,’ he said.

Mr Sunak admitted that he could not give any precise figures for the overall bill, saying the schemes were ‘demand led’.

But it appears the announcements today will total well over £10billion in additional spending by the government – on top of more than £200billion already splurged to prop up the economy.

They will fuel alarm at the spiralling outlay after it emerged the government has borrowed more than a billion pounds every day during the pandemic so far

In crucial changes to the Job Support Scheme, the government will cover more of the cost of staff on reduced hours, with just a 5 per cent contribution required from employers instead of 33 per cent.

There will be a one day a week minimum hours requirement, down from 33 per cent – lowering the threshold for what classes as a ‘viable’ job.

Firms in ‘high risk’ Tier Two areas will get bolstered grants of up to £2,100 a month, with the move backdated to ward off criticism from northern hotspots that have been under restrictions for months.

Mr Sunak said 150,000 could benefit, with the costs potentially hitting £1billion.

The package for the self-employed is being hugely scaled up, with grants increased from 20 per cent to 40 per cent of average profits until April – meaning the maximum quarterly payment will now be £3,750. The cost up to January is estimated at £3.1billion, but could end up double that by the spring.

While businesses forced to close in the harshest Tier Three areas can access significant funding, there has been less available for ‘high risk’ Tier Two regions such as London and Essex – even though the ban on households mixing indoors means that many are getting hammered.

Tory MPs have been increasingly alarmed at the gap, amid warnings that the crisis is set to drag on well into next year. Shocking official figures today show that 17 per cent of firms in the accommodation and food services industry are at ‘severe’ risk of becoming insolvent.

Mr Sunak held a breakfast briefing with business leaders to outline the changes, before confirming them in the House. 

The new measures come two days after Mr Ottolenghi joined hospitality workers in a noisy demonstration against ‘devastating’ Tier 2 coronavirus restrictions in central London.

Around 200 workers, from farmers to chefs and events organisers, filled Parliament Square with a metallic uproar by banging metal cooking utensils on Monday morning.