85 CURRYLIFE AUG 2020 Output 24/08/2020 01:23 Page 24
The Cobra Beer founder
Lord Bilimoria to Curry Life
The virus will not be a threat forever
CURRY LIFE
NEWS
With Curry Houses in the UK starting to come back to life as lockdown restrictions gradually ease, our reporter Sam Smith catches up with Cobra Beer founder and CBI President Lord Karan Bilimoria.
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No stranger to appearing in the pages of Curry Life, Lord Bilimoria gives us his unique perspective on the industry and the UK Government’s measures to support it. If we could sum up our interview with Lord Bilimoria in one word; it would be hopeful. In his view; through a combination of cooperation from the public, innovation from the industry, support from the Government and advancements in medical science, COVID-19 will not be a threat forever. We were keen to know his thoughts on Rishi Sunak, Chancellor of the Exchequer’s summer statement, which largely focused on the UK hospitality industry. As well as how the sector’s recovery would not only stimulate the economy but also give people something they desperately want – to enjoy restaurants again. Provided that it’s same to do so. Lord Bilimoria was an advocate of reducing the 2-metre social distancing rule to 1-metre, after scientific research showed little difference between each distance when examining the likelihood of infection. However, where
there was a significant difference made by this change was for pubs and restaurants. According to Lord Bilimoria, “Reducing the distance has made it easier for businesses to reopen has encouraged customers to return, saving many businesses and thousands of jobs.” Industry bodies, experts and leaders were encouraging the Government to reduce VAT for the hospitality industry since the pandemic began. Lord Bilimoria welcomed the reduction of VAT from 20% to 5% believing it will “stimulate demand and benefits everyone.” Naturally this includes the curry industry, but it will also help other restaurants too, especially those who were not able to make the transition to a takeaway only service so easily. We asked Lord Bilimoria about the Government’s other initiatives such as the job retention scheme and bounce back loans, he said “The Chancellor has done well, and over a million small businesses have received the bounce back loan. And in regard to the Job Retention Scheme, such an idea was absolutely unprecedented.” He went on to say, “We were the first country to do something like this. Others have since adopted similar strategies, but we’ve pioneered these ideas as a country to help our businesses.” He did stress however that these schemes may need to be extended, perhaps by sector or geographical location, as smaller more regional lockdowns occur, but ultimately praised Rishi Sunak for being “flexible and open-minded”.
