There is perhaps, not another individual as celebrated in the elite business and political circles of London as Lord Karan Bilimoria. He is the Founding Chairman of the UK India Business Council, Chancellor of the University of Birmingham, Deputy Lieutenant of Greater London, and has recently been elected as the President of Confederation of British Industry (CBI), the first ever from an ethnic minority background. In the globalised era of doing business where most companies are aspiring to have “diverse and inclusive” workspaces, diversity is thus one key buzzwords. Yet, considerable progress needs to be achieved on those grounds and Lord Bilimoria is spearheading Change the Race Ratio campaign, urging the companies to set tough targets to improve diversity and publish them within 12 months.
But more fundamentally, he has been instrumental in amplifying concerns of the hospitality industry especially as crippled restaurants, pubs and bars battle another nationwide lockdown imposed due to coronavirus.
Highlighting the renewed struggles that the hospitality industry is stuck in especially during the festive season, the co-founder of the well-known beer brand Cobra, said, “The hospitality industry is one of the sectors that has suffered the most during the pandemic. In the first lockdown, it was shut completely for three and a half months except for takeaway deliveries. The industry showed its resilience and ability to adapt at speed, reopened and bounced back. However, disappointingly it is now shut again in this second lockdown, once again except for takeaways. What has helped has been the government measures throughout the pandemic, including the furlough scheme which has been thankfully reintroduced for the second lockdown and extended until the end of March. Furthermore, the industry has benefited from business rates relief, access to grants, postponement of rent, VAT, and taxes, a reduction of VAT from 20% to 5% (excluding alcohol), access to the 100% government-guaranteed Bounce Back loans as well as the government Eat Out to help Out scheme (EOTHO) in August. Cobra beer sponsored an EOTHO extension in September in which hundreds of restaurants participated and co-funded.”
In May, hundreds of restaurants provided takeaways by participating in the Cobra Beer sponsored HRH The Prince of Wales’s charity, The British Asian Trust’s Big Curry Night In, besides others where all money raised was for Covid-19 victims in South Asia. Now, Lord Bilimoria believes “the second lockdown could not have come at a worse time, especially as the already paralysed hospitality industry was hoping to recuperate from annual losses by making up one-third of its business in the two months from Halloween to New Year’s Eve. In the midst of the second lockdown Cobra Beer has launched the Cobra Beer Sony Tv The Chef Virtual Cookbook free of charge globally. Again, showcasing the resilience and innovation of the hospitality industry in the face of challenges. And he believes, that the recent US elections would open up a raft of possibilities for the UK businesses.
He said, “The US and UK have one of the world’s most successful trading ties and businesses in both countries look forward to building on that with the new administration. The case for a UK-US trade deal is as strong as ever: the world’s largest investment relationship with over a million jobs created in both our countries, like-minded free traders with scope to shape future regulation in new sectors like AI or fintech or life sciences.
“It’s early days but a Biden Presidency could open up possibilities for UK business across a host of things including climate change, WTO, and reinvigorated B7. British business looks forward to working with the US to capitalise on that.”
