Lawrence Barton urges hospitality industry to "remain vigilant"

A business leader has called on companies in the hospitality sector to be vigilant in a bid to avoid a second coronavirus wave.

Lawrence Barton, director of Birmingham's Southside Business Improvement District, made the plea as lockdown restrictions were eased.

He said businesses had to make sure to balance people wanting to socialise with the health implications – or face a local lockdown like Leicester.

It comes after police bosses said the majority of customers behaved themselves and respected the rules as pubs and restaurants reopened on Saturday.

Mr Barton, who is also managing director of GB Training, said: "We are the fourth largest industry in the UK and employ about 10 per cent of people.

"In this region alone we employ several hundreds of thousands of people and have lost tens of millions of pounds during lockdown. That’s money which has not gone into the economy."