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Pubs will go down in vicious strike: Clive Watson says strikes could be ‘the end of the road’ for businesses grappling with a pandemic
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Clive Watson, boss of the City Pub Company, has labeled this week’s barrage of railway strikes as ‘mean’. He said the strikes could be the “end of the road” for businesses still struggling in the wake of the pandemic.
The RMT union has planned strikes for December 13-14 and December 16-17 – including Friday and Saturday nights.
Watson is the latest catering chef to wade in line after complaints from Punch Taverns and Mitchells & Butlers. He said, “It’s the week where you really make your money’s worth during the holiday season.
Festive blow: Clive Watson, with daughters Lucy and Tiffany, says pubs are suffering
‘A strike day can affect turnover by 20 percent or more. But when strikes are back-to-back and there’s disruption all week, it could be bigger.”
Watson, who has appeared on the reality show Made In Chelsea along with his daughters Lucy and Tiffany, called for a “Christmas truce” akin to bringing down guns between British and German soldiers for a day in World War I to play football.
‘I understand that employers and employees have labor disputes. But maximizing the damage to retail and hospitality is like shooting ourselves in the foot,” he said.
His company, valued at £74 million on the stock exchange, runs 41 pubs in London, Cambridge and Exeter, among others.