CODE founder Adam Hyman pens a letter to Sadiq Khan, the Mayor of London
Dear Mr Khan
I hope you’ve been doing well. We’ve not seen you for a while – what’s keeping you busy at the moment? I’m not sure the last time you walked the streets of the capital and spoke to Londoners but things aren’t great at the moment. I thought I’d take the opportunity to give you a little debrief on where things currently stand.
Where shall we start? How about with this 10pm curfew? It doesn’t really make sense does it? We’ve been told that there’s no science behind it and nor was there any economic assessment of its impact. Needless to say, the repercussions are pretty clear – it’s once again battered consumer confidence and restaurants and bars have seen trade drop drastically since it was introduced. The latest figures from Public Health England show that hospitality was responsible for less than 3% of COVID transmissions – yet our industry has been unfairly impacted once again. The Mayor of Marseilles has spoken up about the situation over there and so has Andy Burnham for the North. So, what are your thoughts? Fancy helping us out over here a bit?
I think we should tackle transport infrastructure next. There seems to be quite a confusing message around this – perhaps you could help clarify a few things? The message is to try and avoid public transport but you whack the Congestion Charge up to such a preposterous level and to such aggressive timings it doesn’t make sense for those who wish to drive into the centre of London to actually do so. However, our roads are at gridlock anyway. These cycle lanes that have commandeered the likes of Park Lane and the Euston Road don’t half cause traffic jams. I’m still yet to see many people in these cycle lanes but of course, people are still being encouraged not to commute into work are they. And as we enter into autumn, it’s not quite as appealing to pedal around town is it? Uber has also had its licence renewed this week to operate in London yet they’ve abused the curfew with ridiculous surcharges. It’s almost as if you don’t want anyone to come into central London? I wonder why people are so put off coming into the West End to shop and dine out?
Finally, as I know you’re a busy man so I don’t want to keep you too long, could we maybe touch upon the lack of leadership London is currently going through. I was born in London and I’m very proud of it. Like any city it has its problems but it’s an amazing place full of opportunity, creativity and social capital. That’s all but disappeared. We need to rally the troops. People want to be listened to, we need a vision, something to buy into. I worry if we don’t then our city will never get up off its knees again. There’ll be an exodus because let’s face it, this is currently not the city we love and adore. I hear Lisbon is sunny and affordable.
What’s the saying? “When a man is tired of London, he is tired of life.”
With best regards
Adam Hyman
Founder, CODE Hospitality
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