As the UK economy enters a winter of almost unprecedented uncertainty, the hospitality industry is among those most at risk. With restaurant owners and pub operators facing a myriad of challenges, there have been several grim predictions about the prospects of many UK hospitality businesses, and all saying conditions are expected to worsen over the coming months.

In September, the sector experienced the fastest fall in output of any UK industry and, in a recent survey, over a third of hospitality firms polled expressed a fear that issues such as rising costs and staffing shortages could put them out of business by the end of the year.