Yahoo Finance Pubs shut and workers shun the office in blistering heatwave
Pubs shut down, builders were sent home and city centre offices emptied out as workers scrambled to stay cool in soaring temperatures.
Premises from Worcestershire to Liverpool were forced to close their doors after the heatwave put staff safety at risk. The housebuilder Barratt Developments and commercial construction business Sir Robert McAlpine also said they were cancelling work at sites that had become too hot.
In central London, footfall plunged almost a fifth on Monday morning from a week earlier as workers avoided the office.
Steve Alton, head of the British Institute of Innkeeping, said that many pubs felt they had no choice but to stay closed.
He said: "They're worried about their staff in these very, very hot kitchens and would rather not risk these hugely-valued employees so they've said they're going to close to protect their teams."
Pubs to close included the Cross Keys in Ombersley, Worcestershire, where the landlord said it would be "unacceptable to ask my staff to work in these conditions".
The French restaurant Maray in Liverpool also closed for two days, with owners saying the kitchen was too hot to use. Closures were also announced in Cheltenham, Bristol and Nottingham.
Mr Alton said that many venues did not have the cooling equipment needed for such extreme conditions - and those which do will face even higher energy costs at a time when food, drink and wage bills are also rocketing.
He said: "In kitchens, extraction and cooling equipment is absolutely critical because these places will be running incredibly hot, and owners will be trying desperately to keep these buildings in the right temperature range."
"We've never seen the like of all these pressures coming at the same time."
The construction industry has also been hit hard. Housebuilders Persimmon and Berkeley Group both said they were taking precautions to protect staff. Sir Robert McAlpine was also considering closing sites that became too hot.
A spokesman for Barratt said: "For colleagues on our sites, we’re rescheduling works for the cooler parts of the day where necessary and asking everyone to take regular breaks in the shade.
"We’ll take decisions on a site-by-site-basis whether to close if colleagues are uncomfortable."
With workers across Britain advised to stay at home, the number of people on London's streets was down 18pc on Monday morning from a week earlier according to data company Springboard.
However, footfall in coastal towns was 9pc higher as families headed to the beach instead.
Employment lawyers have warned that there is no clear legal obligation on companies when it comes to a maximum temperature at work. Unite, the union, has called on the government to introduce a law which would deem it no longer safe to work in extreme heat.
However some full-time office workers said they were perfectly happy to be at their desks this week.
One London-based investment banker said: "Everyone is coming to the office because it's nicely air conditioned."
