Coronavirus: Leading restaurants warn London is a 'ghost town' without theatres

These include:

• Clear messaging from government around returning to the city centre.
• Encouraging UK families to visit London and enjoy the city.
• Forgoing the 14-day quarantine rule but test everyone entering the country.
• Offering free face masks and guides in central London promoting hospitality businesses.
• Suspending the congestion charge for three months to encourage footfall, as well as increasing cycle routes to encourage other visitors.

Gulliver told The Stage: "Food and theatre are at the very heart of any great city, they dance together to bring joy and life and, dare I say it, commercial success."

Hartnett, chef at Murano and Cafe Murano, added: “A thriving theatre is a fundamental to our restaurant world in London – without it something is missing and is deeply missed. We must protect this living bond that is at the creative and emotional core of London town.

"Our theatres are places of magic, our theatre folk magical."

The letter and signatories in full

For the immediate attention of:
Mayor of London Sadiq Khan
Lord Mayor of the City of London William Russell
Lord Mayor of Westminster Jonathan Glanz
Prime Minister Boris Johnson

London Town needs you! London Welcomes You. London is Open.

Without the 21 million tourists and without the 4 million commuters that visit and work in London each year, what will London become? Immediate action must be taken before millions of jobs are lost and the economy of the entire country is affected.

The government’s message is a confusing one. The dithering is not helping the economy get back on its feet, and it is not instilling confidence in the public to visit the attractions, theatres, museums, galleries, cinemas, hotels, restaurants and bars that we are so proud of and that makes London the greatest of capitals.

While scenes of mobbed urban parks and packed seaside towns fill our screens, the centre of London remains a ghost town. Theatres are closed until 2021, the Arts are trying to come out of hibernation, restrictions remain for cinema and visitor attractions, no sport can be attended, there are no public gatherings, concerts or events to attend. The hotels have been closed and are expecting a lethargic recovery, there is no long distance tourism and those looking for cheap flights are leaving the country, not coming to it.

Without tourism, without millions of visitors spending millions of pounds, without office workers and daily commuters, our favourite places will close; Chinatown will shut down, Covent Garden will be empty and there will be no hustle and bustle on the streets of the City. London will not be able to lead a national recovery this time, as it has in the past, and many operators won’t make it to the end of the year.

We believe that if these points are actioned then our great city will be saved:

• Clear and succinct messaging from the government – Be alert, stay safe but return to the workplace and return to London’s city centre. This should start with government office staff and local council workers leading the way, it is either safe or it isn’t.
• Encourage UK tourism, encourage families from around the UK to come to central London and to visit ALL its great attractions or simply enjoy the city.
• Forgo the 14 day quarantine and test those entering the country at every airport and every port and station.
• Employ ‘Beat the Virus Guides’ (in a similar vein to those who volunteered for the London Olympics) to be present throughout Westminster and the City and handout free facemasks as they do in Berlin. Those on furlough (or worse, laid off) are ideal candidates.
• Promote London’s greatest hotels while they offer the lowest rates they have ever given. Imagine a stay of a lifetime at the St James Sofitel Hotel!
• Cycle routes, both new routes and further temporary ones for the next 3 months to encourage travel into the centre. In addition, erect good and secure parking facilities and bicycle repair tents and more. (This could be reviewed after 3 months.)
• Congestion Charge, rather than making it more expensive and extending its hours and days to 7 days a week, suspend the charge for 3 months then review. Offer further parking facilities.
• Public Transport should be increased, more carriages and trains on the Underground and Overground as confidence grows, and of course with continued safety and hygiene measures, and lower prices for 3 months.
• London Mayors – we want to see you! Support your city and encourage it back to life. Get together on the platform, put aside your differences! Invite great Londoners to join you!
• Government – don’t sit on the fence about VAT rates, make your mind up on this and other national incentives so that they can be used now and not when it’s too late or indeed hanging out false hope.

This letter is supported by:
Angela Hartnett MBE, Murano and Cafe Murano
Tom Parker Bowles, Critic and Food Writer
Trevor Gulliver and Fergus Henderson, St. John
Nick Jones, Soho House
Michel Roux Jnr, Le Gavroche, Roux at the Landau
Richard Corrigan, Corrigan’s Mayfair, Bentley’s, Daffodil Mulligan
Henry Harris, Harcourt Inns
Soren Jessen, No1 Lombard Street and Ekte
Jonathon Downey, London Union
Des Gunewardena, D&D Restaurants
David Loewi, D&D Restaurants
Karam Sethi, JKS Restaurants
Jyotin Sethi, JKS Restaurants
Gemma Bell, Gemma Bell and Company
Neil Borthwick, The French House
Melanie Arnold and Margot Henderson, Rochelle at the ICA
Geoffrey Leong, Dumpling Legend
Chris and Jeff Galvin, La Chapelle, Galvin at Windows, Galvin at The Athenaeum
Sam and Sam Clark, Moro, Morito
Jackson Boxer, Brunswick House, Orasay
Isaac McHale, Daniel Willis and Johnny Smith, The Clove Club, Luca, Two Lights
Dan Keeling and Mark Andrew, Noble Rot
Suzanne and Anna Barfoot, Sweetings
Peter Davies, WMT
Robert Wilson, The Bleeding Heart
Mathew Carver, Cheesetruck
Oliver Milburn, Tom Mullion, Tim Steel, Kitty Fisher’s and Cora Pearl
Richard Nottage, Sofitel St James
Anthony Demetre, Wild Honey St James
Lawrence Hartley, Tim Healy, Joe Allen’s
Ed Thaw, Leroy
Sam Bompas, Bompas & Parr
Alistair Smith, Editor, The Stage
Andy Lewis-Pratt, Market Halls
Josh Katz, Berber & Co, and many more.