Pubs, bars and restaurants missed out on more than £10,000 each in the week leading up to Christmas, figures show, as concern about the Omicron variant and government guidance to work from home ruined the crucial festive period for the second year in a row. Sales were down by as much as 60% compared with the same period in 2019, according to the trade body UKHospitality. Trading had been close to pre-pandemic levels before the emergence of Omicron but plummeted as consumer confidence collapsed, it said. Work from home guidance meant city centre venues were particularly hard hit, while takings at the average venue were down £10,335 compared with 2019 levels on a nationwide basis. Kate Nicholls, UKHospitality’s chief executive, said the figures showed that the government should not impose any new restrictions affecting the sector and should increase the level of government support on offer. Before Christmas, Rishi Sunak, the chancellor, announced a package of measures to help the sector, including grants of up to £6,000. However, the UKHospitality figures suggest venues have lost considerably more than the value of the grants in a single week. “Hospitality businesses have been hit hard during a key trading period – and this after missing out on the crucial Christmas and new year sales last year,” Nicholls said. “Restrictions must be kept to a minimum and must be lifted as quickly as possible to help an already beleaguered sector or many will simply not survive – and those who do make it through face a return to 20% VAT in April.” UKHospitality and businesses within the sector have repeatedly called on the government to extend the temporary lower VAT rate of 12.5% for hospitality, or even to return it to the emergency 5% rate that was in place until October this year. While hospitality has been hard hit by measures intended to slow the spread of Covid-19, figures suggest that the pandemic is yet to have a significant effect on pub closures. The number of pubs in England and Wales dropped by 400 during 2021 to 40,173. However, the rate of decline was slower than in previous years. England and Wales lost 446 pubs in 2020 and 473 in 2019, the last full year with no pandemic effect. The steepest fall in recent years occurred in 2018, when 918 pubs were lost during the year.