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Last weekend, Anthony Lorenz’s phone was ringing off the hook. Client after client was calling the London-based veteran tenant rep advisor, all with the same problem. Revenue had fallen off a cliff, cash flow was tight and on 25 March the quarterly rent was falling due.
“I had clients I hadn’t spoken to for two years, ringing out of the blue, asking for help talking to their landlord,” the managing director of The Lorenz Consultancy said. “We act for some of the biggest clubs, bars and restaurants in the West End. Our clients were telling us takings from the weekend were at least 70% down, often as much as 90%. One club told us that instead of taking £130K over the weekend they had taken £14K. If landlords don’t help out, the leisure industry in the West End will collapse.”
And perhaps beyond. As a result of coronavirus, the UK’s pubs, bars, restaurants, theatres, cinemas and nightclubs are on their knees. Lorenz was fielding calls from struggling clients before the UK government on Monday advised the public to avoid such venues, which is likely to hit trade even harder.
With little or no revenue coming in, many companies will only have enough cash to get through the next six to eight weeks, after which they will go out of business, trade body UK Hospitality said. Predictions for job losses are running into the hundreds of thousands.Cinema operators like Cineworld have…
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