Adventure Island owner Philip Miller has added his voice to calls for a four-day bank holiday weekend to be made permanent.
The United Kingdom celebrated the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee with an extra bank holiday last week, making up a four-day weekend of celebrations.
Miller told the Essex Echo: “We had busy days with all our customers enjoying the bank holiday Thursday for the first time ever.
“We played the national anthem on the hour every hour which many of our customers loved hearing,” he added.
‘Cost to our economy’
The UK government has this said it was considering the concept, but the prime minister’s spokesman said that each Bank Holiday presents a “considerable and significant cost to our economy”.
Miller, speaking to RideRater, said: “I know from talking with my customers it would be a vote winner for a very unpopular government.
“We would absolutely support making the Jubilee Bank Holiday a permanent fixture in the calendar. It would be just the lift the hospitality sector needs right now.”
Miller spoke of the huge effect the recent surge in energy costs are having on business.
“Just when we thought it was starting to return to normal then bang – energy doubles in cost,” he said.
“It’s like having a new partner in the business costing one million pounds a year. Throw in the rest of the increases, which are numerous, it’s starting to look worse than the pandemic.”