Coronavirus: Chef Simon rails at Government's 'cowardly stance'

Date published: 17 March 2020


Oldham celebrity chef Simon Wood has slammed the Government’s ‘cowardly stance’ as the war against Coronavirus continues.

Chadderton-raised Simon, the 2015 BBC Masterchef winner, now runs three hugely popular restaurants – Wood Manchester, Woodkraft in Cheltenham and Wood Chester.

However, after Boris Johnson last night urged the public to avoid pubs, clubs, theatres and other such social venues, Simon has seriously questioned the Prime Minister’s stance, and the apparent general lack of support so far from the Government.

"I think first and foremost it's a cowardly stance by the Government to give us no guidance whatsoever,” said Simon.

“Essentially what the Prime Minister has said is we can remain open and then he's told everyone not to come.

“That's fair enough, but every other sector in the country has got definitive guidelines - stay at home, social distance, work from home.

“We can't do that in hospitality, so there needs to be a decision made.

“What the government's doing is making the operator do that, but that just leaves us vulnerable and exposed.

“We've got staff, suppliers and order levels to think about.

“Nobody knows if insurers will pay out.

“Everybody's getting mixed messages because it wasn't a known virus at the time of taking the insurance.

“There's always going to be an excuse in my opinion not to shell out and I think a lot of people will agree with that with insurance companies.

“All we ask for is an equal opportunity like every other sector - 6% of the population work in hospitality.

“That's a lot of people that now are in jeopardy.

“Everyone in hospitality understands that everyone's health comes first.

“There is another side of health to this and that's mental health, anxiety, financial pressures - we're not just battling a virus, we're battling health and economics here.

“With this stance Boris Johnson has literally hung us out to dry.

“I'm going to run my business in Manchester.

“I'm going to assess Chester and Cheltenham differently because they're different operations.

“In Manchester I'm going to have to run my business using salaried staff only and make minimal orders - if any at all.

“At the minute when I looked at my booking numbers last night they looked okay, but I expect we'll see a drop off this week as people start to worry but you cannot plan when you haven't got a rationale behind it.

“We haven't been told to close.

“Boris Johnson has told us to stay open but no one's going to come. That's what he's done to us.

“There needs to be a financial package for businesses, whether that be sick pay for all, being told to close, make bail out loans available.

“I've got three restaurants and everyone thinks you make loads of money out of it but let me tell you, you do this for love not for money because the margins are so tight, and that's on a good week.

“On a downturn like we've got now, we've got to be really prudent and we're at war.

“I think it's just important that some clarity is given, hospitality workers deserve that the same as anyone else.”

Meanwhile, Sacha Lord, the Night Time Economy Adviser for Greater Manchester, has released a statement in response to the Prime Minister's advice to stop going to places like pubs and clubs.


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