“It makes you despondent. They just don’t take us seriously at all, ”Willemsen sighs.
“What we know for sure is that the current measures will take much longer than those four weeks,” said Minister Hugo de Jonge (Public Health) during the evening. welded press moment. Only when the virus is under control again can the cabinet allow more freedom as long as everyone adheres to the basic rules. “Until then, it’s just a matter of persistence.”
7 billion euros
However, persistence is no longer an option for some catering establishments, says Willemsen. “We are missing out on a turnover of about 7 billion euros in the last quarter. A huge amount. About 1.5 billion euros in equity must now be paid, but that money is simply not there. We have written several letters to Minister De Jonge in which we ask for a substantiation for the measures taken, but no answer has been received. Downright antisocial. The fact that Rutte and De Jonge tell on Tuesday evening that the catering industry must close longer, says enough about how seriously they take the industry. ”
Catering entrepreneurs call the 40 million euros extra for the sector announced by the cabinet a ‘tip’, says Willemsen. “This amount is nowhere near enough.” 40 million euros will be made available for food and beverage outlets, partly to compensate for the stocks and costs of making an opportunity ‘corona-proof’. “It’s a tip,” also says the Amsterdam catering entrepreneur Won Yip. “You can feel on your clogs that 2500 euros for a neighborhood cafe is welcome, but for a large company it is nothing at all.” In his own words, after the previously announced measures, Yip saw 30,000 euros ‘evaporate’ at his company at the end of September.
Buy-back program
The money is in addition to the existing schemes that catering businesses can use. “If the cabinet has to do anything, it is to make NOW 3 even better”. None of the schemes so far provides for the costs that the business will incur, Yip said.
He calls on the cabinet to provide customization. “I really argue in favor of drawing up a purchase program, just like for farmers. Look at which companies can be saved and which cannot. Don’t infinitely pump money into companies. You have to give people an escape. Now you push people into the NOW. They will soon be at home with debts for a year now ”
The Rotterdam catering entrepreneur Herman Hell (including Sijf and Van Zanten) calls the announced extra support ‘worrisome’. “I didn’t expect the cabinet to drop us like that. We are making a huge sacrifice to help public health and healthcare. I understand that we should do that. But I do not understand that the government is not saying: we are going to compensate the catering industry. Apparently we have to pay the bill because the government has not acted quickly enough. ”
Paying staff
With the now announced 2500 euros per company, Hell can ‘barely pay anything’. “The biggest pain is not adjusting the NOW scheme. The bill is getting heavier, but aid is going down. That is very illogical. ”
Also chairman Maarten Hinloopen of the Hague department of Koninklijke Horeca Nederland (KHN) had expected that the cabinet would do something with the NOW scheme. “Entrepreneurs cannot continue to pay endless employees in full while there is no work and receive less and less in return,” says Hinloopen, who is also a catering entrepreneur himself. “The phase-out was conceived in July when things were still going well.”
Hinloopen also believes that the government’s regulation raises more questions than answers. “You should expect clarity now. You can hardly maintain that we are attacked by this, right? ”
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