Mr. Adrian Cummins:

With regard to landlords, we want the same protection that residential tenants have for our commercial tenants. In the restaurant industry, 90% of businesses are rented and landlords have definitely not stepped up to the plate to take their fair share of the pain that all businesses are currently suffering. If turnover is down by 50% to 75%, landlords across the country must realise that rents cannot be paid at pre-Covid levels. Currently, they are seeking 100% of the rent upfront or continued with no haircut or reduction. This will be a tipping point for the vast majority of what are small businesses. These are coffee shops employing ten or 15 people, for example.

We are moving into a space where we will see many businesses having to close their doors because the landlord is not playing ball. All we are getting is tea and sympathy while they ask for full rent. We have no structure in this country to deal with that.