Michaël has owned a restaurant for many years near the Gare du Nord in Brussels. The past few months have been very complicated for this 37-year-old restaurateur, whose majority of customers are workers from surrounding offices. With the reintroduction of telework to 4 days a week, no one comes to dinner in his establishment at noon, he complains. It was in “a state of distress” that he pushed the orange Alert us button to make his situation heard.
“We too often forget, during this health crisis, the Horeca establishments which work in office districts”, “We don’t talk enough regarding the situation of businesses that are in office districts”, “Because of teleworking, the Schuman district and attendance is almost nil. The gateway right and the bonuses do not in any way cover the fixed costs that must be met…” Many of you have pressed the orange Alert us button to point out this situation that some merchants are facing. Since the reintroduction of telework to 4 days a week, the offices no longer accommodate as many workers. Having dinner in town or shopping at lunchtime has therefore become very rare.
Michaël runs a restaurant near the Gare du Nord in Brussels. For a few months, he has felt the difference. Things got very complicated. “It’s noon, I find myself here with only one table in my establishment… whereas before the Covid, it was full”, he tells us, throat knotted. To give him a hand in his restaurant, this 37-year-old Horeca manager called on his parents. Its employees are still temporarily unemployed. They actually never came back to work. “Before, I had three full-time and two flexi-jobs. But there’s no point in taking them back for the moment… My dad is a pensioner but he comes to help me. I also have my chef who is part of of my team”develops Michael.
For him, it is clearly the measures related to teleworking that are in question. “Even if the government has not imposed 100% teleworking, workers who can return one day a week do not do so when it is on a voluntary basis. They prefer to stay at home”regrets the one who can no longer make ends meet. “I completely understand them, they don’t waste an hour there and back, they can drop the children off at school and pick them up, they can do other things around the house during the breaks… But you have to think of the shopkeepers. 95% of my clientele are people who work in the various companies around…”he continues.
A warning signal to the government
Michaël tells us to record a loss of 70% of his turnover. “I don’t know how I’m going to support my society. It’s been going on for two years… this is my state of distress”, he said. And it was precisely this state of distress that prompted him to contact our editorial staff. “It’s a warning signal that I want to make because I think I’m not the only one in this situation. I want the government to hear this.” But according to the Federal Minister for the Self-Employed and SMEs, the government is already well aware of the situation. David Clarinval also recalls that aid is always available to these traders, in particular the possibility of reducing or postponing the payment of social security contributions. “There is the double gateway when they are completely closed but also the single gateway when they have a decrease in turnover of 40% compared to 2019, even if they are open. They can request a single gateway, it will be granted to them regardless of the sector in which they are active”he insists.
The simple right bridge, Michaël already benefits from it but he considers that it is not enough. “I am entitled to 1,330 euros. And since I am in a company, I am additionally taxed at 30% on it. When you have rent to pay, fixed charges of 5 to 6,000 euros, how do you expect me to ‘so?’, laments the restaurateur. To get by, this manager had to make some sacrifices, starting with tapping into his own financial reserves. He also had to restrict his menu in order to minimize losses and offer products that last a little longer. He also terminated his contract with his cleaning company. “I do it myself now to maintain my company which does not know how to meet all these additional costs.” Michaël even tried to open his restaurant during the weekend, but once more, the efforts did not prove conclusive. “I spent 12 hours here selling two coffees so I gave up. It was useless.”
Horeca has been my whole life, that’s all I’ve known. Everything I’ve built is destroyed
Continuously adapting to the situation is unfortunately the lot of many traders today. “We see that in certain districts of large cities, such as Brussels, there is a sharp reduction in the number of people present in offices due to teleworking”recognizes Minister David Clarinval who then tempers: “It is possible that in the long term, adaptations of businesses will be necessary. Some may have to adapt accordingly. But for the moment, we are not there yet.”
However, on the side of the Neutral Union for the Independents (SNI), we are already encouraging traders to develop in online commerce. “From the moment when the vast majority of workers are teleworking because Codeco requires it so, it is as many consumers who stay at home and who also have different consumption habits. Directly, sandwich shops, small restaurants and brasseries set up around the zones are the first to pay the bill. We therefore advise traders to work during this period on e-commerce via the net”, explains Christophe Wambersie. The President of the SNI considers that it is essential “to maintain the relationship with his client” for “inviting them to come visit, have promotions and other activities.”
Measures to avoid the desertification of office districts
Despite his many arrangements, Michaël confides to us all the same that he is very afraid for the future and for his restaurant. A family business that has lasted for 22 years and that he would not want to see collapse because of the health crisis. “I never thought it would fall like this on our heads. Horeca is my whole life, I’ve only known that. Everything I’ve built is destroyed. We wake up one day and everything stops. The whole neighborhood is dead, everyone is suffering and we can’t see the end of the tunnel.” A difficult situation that the general administrator of Comeos, the Belgian Federation of Commerce and Services, understands very well. Dominique Michel believes that the fears of this restaurateur are completely justified since telework might be established in a sustainable way. “There is a kind of desertification of city centers which will further accelerate. It is estimated that, even following the Covid period, there will be many companies which will continue with part teleworking and part working in physical”he points out.
The challenge, according to the Comeos representative, will therefore be to fight as much as possible once morest “the desertification of entire areas”in these cities made up of many offices. “We need to look at the measures that need to be taken to support them and assess the substantive impacts on all of the retail and Horeca sectors. Some companies have managed to recover well but a number of companies, particularly in the neighborhoods affected by remote work, must be helped and that is what we must tackle now”argues Dominique Michel.
The wish of our 37-year-old restaurateur is very clear today: “Êbe heard by politicians because the situation of one trader is not that of another.” And even if traders do not necessarily have the impression of it, the Federal Minister for the Independents assures “to fight every day at Codeco and Kern” for the sectors affected by the crisis. “I hope that we will be able to get out of this crisis quickly and that the independents will be able to find colors “concludes David Clarinval.