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Train strikes, soaring gas bills and poor footfall hit City restaurateurs: ‘It’s simply unsustainable’

Covid lockdowns, the mass shift to homeworking and the train strikes have dealt repeated blows to the Square Mile’s hospitality industry

By

Sebastian McCarthy

Sue Knowler, the manager of Sweetings (pictured) whose family has owned the restaurant for more than 20 years, says the number of customers today is roughly 80% of what it was pre-pandemic
Sue Knowler, the manager of Sweetings (pictured) whose family has owned the restaurant for more than 20 years, says the number of customers today is roughly 80% of what it was pre-pandemic Photo: Bloomberg via Getty Images

It is 11am on a Wednesday and Sweetings, one of the last surviving lunchtime institutions in the City of London, is about to open its doors.

Waiters hurriedly fill up trays of oysters with ice and line its Victorian bar with bottles of Tabasco sauce.

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