UKHospitality has warned that unless tier three job support is applied to businesses in tier two, the sector will face widespread job losses within weeks.

Kate Nicholls, chief executive of UKHospitality, commented: “Being moved into tier two is a curse for businesses. They will be trapped in a no man’s land of being open, but with severe restrictions that will significantly hit custom, all while unable to access the job support available in tier three. It is the worst of both worlds for businesses.

“Venues in London have already taken a hit due to the dip in inbound tourism and with people increasingly working from home. A move into tier two will now be catastrophic for some of them and it is only going to be made worse by the end of the furlough scheme in under two weeks.

“The Government must remove employer contributions from the Job Support Scheme for hospitality or apply tier three job support to tier two businesses. If it does not, we are looking at catastrophic businesses closures and widespread job losses in the capital as early as 1 November.”

Hospitality is the third largest private sector employer in the UK. It is double the size of financial services and bigger than automotive, pharmaceuticals and aerospace combined.