Last week, London experienced it’s first tube strike since March 2023. Commuters were left to get creative with their morning journey, opting for buses, lime bikes, or the uber boat.
The strike was carried out by the Rail, Maritime and Transport Union (RMT) over disputes with Transport for London over pay and hours. This led to little to no service along the London tube lines, sending commuters and travellers into chaos. However, it was not just 9-to-5-ers that were hit with the blow. London’s hospitality businesses saw substantial effects to their operations, with a staggering 67% cancellation rate across the week. This was alongside a 54% rate of no-shows for reservations across the week, with people abandoning their dinner plans to spare themselves the tubeless pilgrimage.
UKHospitality has estimated that this will cost the industry £110 million. Hospitality owners across the city are already feeling the financial pressure; This is a blow to the sector that comes on top of rising wages, higher NIC rates and staff shortages across the industry. Lord Mayor of London Sadiq Khan was called upon to give the affected businesses a ‘rent and rate’ holiday for the strike period to ease the financial burden and duress, however no compensation has yet been given to the sector.
