Please, Chancellor, can restaurants have a little more help?

The lease forfeiture moratorium which protected my sector from over-aggressive landlords for the past six months gave breathing space for tenants and landlords to begin negotiations on current and future rental agreements. However, neither party seems able to afford to take a full hit on this “rent hangover”.

When you see restaurants packed with bargain-hunters on upcoming Mondays to Wednesdays, it is easy to forget what the hospitality sector has endured and, indeed, is still to endure – an entire quarter of zero trading receipts, followed by further months of restricted and reduced trading, compounded by the requirement to pay six months’ back rent plus quarter four rent in advance come September!

It is little wonder that lobby groups from both sides, UK Hospitality and the British Property Foundation, are proposing “a third – a third – a third” policy. This would see tenants enjoy a 66pc reduction in rent for quarters two, three and four in 2020 – supported by a 33pc contribution to landlords by the Government, which would result in landlords also taking a hit of 33pc but all parties on the whole surviving. Since our doors have reopened, it has felt as if society has never appreciated hospitality so much.

Each service feels like a celebration of fantastic food, wine, company, and freedom! The Eat Out to Help Out scheme has amplified this feeling of goodwill and made me more convinced than ever that there is a strong future for large parts of the industry – from comfortable and affordable high quality gastro-pubs (The Cricketers on the Green in Pirbright, Surrey, is the exemplar of this), to clever virtual and grab-and-go brands (such as Honest Burgers, Pizza Pilgrims) and celebratory dining and corporate entertainment brands such as my own.