This company is offering free takeaways to NHS staff

UK restaurant operator Tasty (TAST.L) is offering free takeaways to NHS staff in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

Tasty runs 56 restaurants in the UK including branches of dim sum restaurant Dim T and pizza and pasta eatery Wildwood.

Following the UK government’s announcement on Friday that all pubs, bars and restaurants are to close in an attempt to encourage social distancing and prevent the spread of the coronavirus, all the company’s restaurants have closed their dine-in facilities “for the foreseeable future”.

In the meantime, the company is offering takeaway and delivery services, where available, and free takeaway meals are currently being offered to NHS and emergency services staff.

Tasty said they are looking to alleviate the revenue loss through cost-cutting measures such as “seeking preferential terms from landlords and suppliers as well as relying on government support for employees' pay and VAT and business rate holidays.”

Read more: McDonald's and Nando’s to close all UK restaurants

The company said they are taking measures to “ensure staff retention where possible.”

The move comes as several popular restaurant chains including McDonald’s and Nando’s close all their UK outlets, suspending takeaway and delivery services.

The hospitality industry has been put under severe pressure by the coronavirus with industry leaders fearing that 500,000 jobs have been cut in the past three weeks as sales collapse in restaurants, cafes, hotels and pubs.

The UK chancellor Rishi Sunak on Friday unveiled another set of “unprecedented” financial measures to help protect workers and jobs, including paying up to 80% of workers’ wages in a bid to help businesses mitigate the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

The UK currently has 5,745 confirmed cases of the coronavirus and 281 deaths, according to the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Centre.