Christmas is a time of the year restaurants, bars and clubs can guarantee lots of business, as festive parties are in full swing and people meet up to celebrate the holiday season. 

While the hospitality industry will certainly welcome the huge demand for bookings this winter after two years of Covid-19 restrictions, it remains to be seen whether they can cope with the increase in customers. 

Indeed, a survey by consultancy KAM and recruitment campaign Hospitality Rising recently revealed that 62 per cent of hospitality businesses are worried about staff shortage this Christmas.

Mark McCulloch, founder, and campaign director of Hospitality Rising, said: “This research brings home the stark reality of the workforce crisis in hospitality and the absolute need we have for bold and creative ways to solve it.”

The survey also found 69 per cent of responders have seen a rise in people leaving the industry over the last 12 months. 

To encourage more to work over the festive period, seven in ten operators have committed to increasing wages, while nearly half are reducing trading hours. Some are even refusing private events at their venues.

Katy Moses, managing director of KAM, added: “Staff shortages continue to limit the vitality of the hospitality sector with customer service levels, employee engagement and sales being impacted.”

It isn’t just staff shortages that risk impacting profit over the next few weeks, as UK Hospitality predicts upcoming rail strikes will cost the sector £1.5 billion. 

Hopefully, your venue will have no problem staying busy this season, in which case get some shatterproof bulbs in case things turn a little turbulent.