Letters
Don't panic? We're in a state of siege
On the question of the foot-and-mouth crisis, Forbes Mutch should visit the Borrowdale area and try to spread his "don't panic" philosophy (Caterer, 8 March, page 19) to the farming and tourism community of the Lake District National Park, where the fells, hills, forests, footpaths and some other attractions are closed.
The region is in a state of siege and all hoteliers are experiencing cancellations every few hours. The phone has stopped ringing for advance reservations.
Historically we would anticipate an occupancy rate of about 58% in March, which would generate a turnover of about £67,000 net of VAT. On 1 March we had 40% occupancy booked and would have expected to have comfortably achieved our expectations as the month progressed. As of today we now have less than 30% booked with other guests still waiting to see how things develop before cancelling.
It is highly probable that our actual performance for March will finish at between 15% and 20% occupancy with a reduction in anticipated turnover of over £40,000. This will add pressure to our overdraft facility, which is already at the higher level as we are just emerging from our winter closure period.
Should this situation continue through April and have the inevitable knock-on effect into May or even June, we will face a negative cash flow approaching £100,000.
I have been in the hotel and restaurant business for 35 years and I do not recall any other single event that has made me so concerned and worried.
Terry Parkinson, Borrowdale Gates hotel, Keswick, Cumbria.
No refund for Cheltenham
The Cheltenham racing festival was cancelled because of foot-and-mouth. Some hotels in Cheltenham and Gloucester insisted on full prepayment for bookings during festival week, and those customers who booked are now being informed that they have lost their prepayment, excluding food and VAT.
Is this professional? Is this proper? How will our industry be viewed?
Name and address withheld, Birmingham.
Why the rise in fish and veg prices?
Forbes Mutch is quite right to say "don't panic", as panic never helped any situation. We are right to be anxious, however, as we don't know how long this crisis will go on. I don't operate in the countryside, but meat supplies to my business are already being affected quite seriously, which is understandable.
What I don't understand is why supplies of fish and some vegetables are going up in price. I hope this doesn't mean food suppliers are taking advantage of the situation.
Michael Barker, Darlington, County Durham.
Pressure from supermarkets is partly to blame
The driving force behind today's foot-and-mouth crisis is, I believe, the direct result of the demand on businesses to make considerable profits, added to the guile of the marketing gurus.
I was taught in my early days at hotel school to ensure that steak was properly hung and well marbled. The result was a dull, burgundy-coloured meat with thin lines of fat producing a marbled effect. The fat basted the steak in cooking to help produce flavour and tenderness.
However, supermarketing gurus have recommended that the public associate a bright red steak sitting on a cold counter as being good and fresh, and have pushed young, unhung meat, increasing its apparent redness by concealed red lighting. Furthermore, supermarkets have used their influence to alter specifications to get rid of the marbling.
The only option open to farmers has been to feed expensive high-cereal diets to their cattle, which has pushed up the cost of production at the same time as the supermarkets have been using their might to reduce the price they pay to the farmers.
It is hardly surprising that, when an alternative feed could be added to the diet that would reduce cost, the farmers had little alternative but to go along with it.
We are now taking the blame from Europe for the foot-and-mouth epidemic, although it is obvious that, if we were once free from foot-and-mouth then it could only reappear here if it came from abroad. In short, the only way some companies in the food production industry can meet the price demands of the supermarkets is to buy foreign feed and meat.
Richard Price, by e-mail.
This is far more serious than the petrol crisis
Forbes Mutch says that "some country hotels with outdoor activities may suffer". As the owner of a traditional country hotel in rural Shropshire, let me say that business is not merely suffering - it has ceased.
Ring up any country hotel you like - the countryside is closed. There is nobody there. Staff are being laid off up and down the country. Bookings are being cancelled and no future business is coming in. This is not like the petrol crisis - it is far, far more serious.
Miles Hunter, Hinton Grange hotel, Hinton Village, near Bath, Somerset.
