The rail strikes will cost London’s economy around £120 million in lost output, a leading City economist warned on Tuesday.
Simon French from brokers Panmure Gordon said he feared each of the three planned stoppages will result in a £40 million hit to the capital as commuters decide to work from home and diners cancel their plans.
The biggest shutdown of the national rail network since 1989 — compounded by Tuesday’s Tube strike — will be felt particularly hard by London’s hospitality sector.
David Moore, owner of Michelin-starred Pied à Terre in Fitzrovia, said: “The strikes have impacted us hugely. Bookings are falling away at an alarming rate of 50 per cent and private dining is almost fully cancelled, with no one wanting to pay for last-minute cancellations.
“At least half the team will lose hours due to the strike, something that we really hate to do but unfortunately has to be done at a time like this. My message to the RMT would be ‘hurt your employers but not the whole country’.”
Stuart Proctor, chief operating officer of The Stafford Collection of hotels, said: “The rail and Tube strikes planned for this week are a complete disaster for hospitality businesses still getting back on their feet following the pandemic and dealing with continually rising operating costs.
“At the Stafford Collection, we’re seeing large numbers of cancellations in The Game Bird, The American Bar and Norma and with people working from home this week to avoid the travel chaos, there’s no opportunity to fill those gaps in revenue through walk-in guests.”
Seb Fogg, managing director of Cubitt House, added: “We are forecasting a 20 per cent drop compared to last week for our collection of London pubs, restaurants and boutique hotels, which is a real hit on a business such as ours.
“We have called all reservations and event bookings and those that haven’t cancelled are telling us they’ll decide each day. This makes our lives incredibly difficult. All our pubs will remain open for our local communities and all those who are in town so let’s see how it goes but it is a real blow for the bottom line and for the team.”
Business chiefs warned that continued strike actionwould cause “incredible” damage to the UK in both the short term and long term.
Richard Burge, chief executive of the London Chamber of Commerce and Industry, warned that the capital “cannot afford a summer of chaos on the railways and Tube lines”.
He called for the RMT, Network Rail and the Government to return to negotiations amid fears that this week’s action could be repeated later this year.
“While this strike will be damaging, a recession is looking likely regardless; as such, I wouldn’t pin an eventual recession on this strike,” he said.
“However, what is very worrying is the possibility this dispute continues through the year and we see multiple strikes into the future. A week lost every month for the foreseeable future is going to do incredible damage to the economy.”
