Thierry Fontaine, owner of nightclubs and restaurants, is the national president of Umih Nuit, the main employers’ union in the sector. He reacts with Ouest-France to the announcement of Prime Minister Jean Castex, Monday, December 6, from “The closing of nightclubs for the next 4 weeks
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Did the government contact you prior to this announcement?
Yes, since this afternoon, we have had discussions to give our arguments against the closure, but as usual it is political communication. We do not have the courage to force people to be vaccinated: yet 10% of the population is enough to restart a wave of Covid, said Minister of Health Olivier Veran. As long as we don’t have the courage that some other countries have, we will be there.
How was the wearing of a mask respected, which has once again become compulsory in nightclubs since November 26?
It was difficult to enforce but we were only left for a week ! We open the umbrella because the elections are coming. The 1,200 nightclubs (1,600 in high season, Editor’s note) are paying the price. This represents more than 30,000 employees, not counting indirect jobs. I am thinking of the morale of business leaders. And where are the young people going to go?
What do the end of year celebrations mean to you, especially the New Year?
The average ticket is huge: for some, we are talking about 20% of the turnover for the year. There are companies that had not already recovered from the closure of recent months (from March 2020 to July 2021, Editor’s note).
What is the next step ? The government has promised compensation measures …
It’s a joke, communication: we are going to give us three francs six sous. If I showed you the number of fixed costs files that we submit and which are refused to us every day… I would not refrain from going to bring the subject before the Council of State. We have already done this in May, which is what led Emmanuel Macron to receive us and announce the reopening of nightclubs this summer.
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