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Mayor of London Sadiq Khan is choosing cheese. Well, he’s being instructed on which cheese to choose by the nice lady in bougie cheesemongers Paxton & Whitfield in St James’s. ‘This one’s a goat’s cheese,’ she explains. ‘They add ash to the rind, which cuts down the acidity.’ Sadiq looks suitably impressed behind his facemask.
The mayor is doing a walking tour of posh Piccadilly: breakfast at the Wolseley and a trip to by-royal-appointment booksellers Hatchards, winding up at the cheese counter. He trails camera crews and security in his wake, Well-heeled locals tut at having to skirt them on the pavement. It’s a minor circus, but an engaging one. It’s in aid of the capital’s retail and hospitality, in the light of the government’s announcement on Monday that full reopening will be delayed by at least a month.
I ask him about the implication of the postponement. ‘I think potentially it’s very very serious,’ he says. ‘On the one hand, businesses are being told there’s another four weeks before they can fully reopen and get customers back. On the other hand, business support is being reduced in relation to business-rates relief, in relation to the moratorium on evictions and in relation to the furlough scheme. So we’re really concerned and we’re lobbying the government not to reduce business support. At the same time, we’re encouraging people to go out and about and to enjoy London safely, as they can do so.’
Sadiq is warning that the impact on businesses for social distancing remaining in pl;ace at the end of June could be ‘calamitous’. Around a quarter of hospitality businesses remain closed, and footfall around Piccadilly is 44 percent down compared to 2019. According to UK Hospitality, the latest delay in the roadmap will cost the hospitality sector £3bn across the UK, and put 300,000 jobs at risk. Nearly one in five of the UK’s hospitality jobs is based in London, representing more than 10 percent of London’s employment. Hospitality venues in London have seen an average decline in sales of £1.3m since the start of 2020. City Hall analysis says consumer spending in central London by foreigh tourists was £7.4 billion lower in 2020.
Alongside what he’s asking the government in terms of business support, Sadiq wants to emphasise that despite continuing restrictions, London is welcoming visitors and encouraging locals to go out this summer.
‘In the last few weeks, I’ve been to theatres, I’ve been to pubs, I’ve been to bars, I’ve been to restaurants,’ he says. ‘I’ve never felt safer. These businesses are taking huge steps to make sure we’re safe and I’ve got full confidence in going to these businesses. I’m also about to get on the tube now: we’ve got the cleanest public transport in the world, so Londoners and people coming from outside who are reading Time Out should be really confident that you can have a great time safely.’
Sadiq heads to Green Park station to go to another meeting. The sun makes Mayfair look almost hyperreally beautiful on this June morning. Let’s hope we can enjoy London in all its glory soon.