Responding to reports that the Restaurant Group is to close between 100-120 Frankie and Benny restaurants, putting 3,000 hospitality jobs at risk, Unite national officer Dave Turnbull said:

“This is more grim news for the nation’s hospitality workers who have been hit especially badly by the coronavirus crisis, and another blow to our battered high streets.

“Many of those who will lose their jobs will be young people. We need urgent action by employers and government to give the younger generation the hope of a future in work.

“We also urge The Restaurant Group to think again and use the government’s furlough scheme to save these jobs. These are unprecedented times, but the last thing these workers and this industry needs are knee-jerk reactions.

“Right across the hospitality sector, there are employers who are seeking to dump their workforce or attack workers’ pay and conditions. Job losses and closures will pile up, and a great many people will be working for a pittance unless the government acts now to stop this race to the bottom and save our high streets.

“What we need from this government is a clear plan of action and a support package to help the hospitality industry get back on its feet post-lockdown. This should not a be no-strings attached bailout but as part of a wider plan to change the industry so that its workers are upskilled, treated with respect with decent pay and union rights.”