Hospitality warns of nightmare before and after Christmas as new rail strikes announced

London’s hospitality venues are headed for a catastrophic Christmas after a fresh slew of railway strike dates were announced today.

The RMT declared that its 40,000 members will walk out throughout December and January, falling slap bang in the middle of the sector’s busiest trading period.

Strike action will take place at Network Rail and 14 other train operators – including LNER and Avanti West Coast – on 13, 14, 16, 17 December as well as on 3, 4, 6, 7 January. 

The new dates placed hundreds of thousands of jobs at risk, industry bosses said.

Punters will cancel Christmas party plans and instead stay at home, meaning that venues’ tills will still miss out even if action is suspended at the last minute.

Ministers must intervene to save the sector, Sarah Willingham, owner of the Cocktail Club, Barrio, and The Adventure Bar Group cocktail chains, told City A.M. 

“After three stolen Christmases and the economy already on its knees, the government should not allow this to happen,” the Nightcap boss said.

Strikes were “debilitating” London’s destination venues and posed the biggest challenge to the sector, even with the economic turmoil, Adam Breeden, boss of Puttshack, Bounce and Flight Club, told the outlet.

Pubs had been hoping to cash in after three lost Christmases to Covid, before customers were back spending later this winter.

Sporadic strikes were “eating into consumer confidence,” all while people and firms were under pressure to save costs, Michael Kill, head of the Night Time Industries Association, said.

Executives – including UKHospitality’s chief Kate Nicholls – also said venues’ staffing shortages would be exacerbated by a lack of transport options for employees.

For their part, union bosses said negotiations with operators broke down on Monday after the Rail Delivery Group failed to deliver written proposals as part of a long-standing dispute over salaries and jobs.

According to the RMT, the negotiating process had become “a farce” as it accused employers of “saying different things to different people, sometimes at the same time.”

“Our message to the public is we are sorry to inconvenience you, but we urge you to direct your anger and frustration at the government and railway employers during this latest phase of action,” said RMT’s general secretary Mick Lynch. 

The Rail Delivery Group rebutted the accusations and called the union back to the negotiating table, as industrial action had already cost the economy millions. 

Rail minister Huw Merriman recently warned that ongoing strikes were costing the UK economy £500m this year.