MasterChef’s Marcus Wareing reveals he’s told furloughed staff at his London restaurants ‘not to moan’ despite warning December could be ‘pretty grim, with mass redundancies’ if lockdown continues
- MasterChef’s Marcus Wareing admitted that COVID-19 has put his job on the line
- Said the hospitality industry must reopen in December or ‘it will be pretty grim’
- Told The Times that he refuses to accept any of his furloughed staff ‘moaning’
MasterChef’s Marcus Wareing has insisted the hospitality industry must reopen in December or ‘it will be pretty grim, with mass redundancies’.
But despite a second lockdown starting today, the TV chef, based in Wimbledon, told The Times that he refuses to accept any of his furloughed staff ‘moaning’.
His restaurants, which reopened in October after first closing in March, are the Marcus, at the Berkeley, a hotel in Knightsbridge, where he holds a Michelin star, and the Gilbert Scott, at the St Pancras Renaissance Hotel in King’s Cross.
However, the chef, 50, said that central London would no longer be the most successful place for those looking to open eateries, explaining that local businesses had more chances of success following the pandemic.
MasterChef’s Marcus Wareing (pictured in January 2020) has admitted that COVID-19 has put his job on the line for the first time in his career
He has insisted the hospitality industry must reopen in December or ‘it will be pretty grim, with mass redundancies’. Pictured: One of the chef’s restaurants, Marcus, at the Berkeley, a hotel in Knightsbridge
The Michelin-starred chef sees an unpleasant future for restaurants if the high street and hospitality sector cannot reopen next month.
‘It’s going to be terrible,’ he warned. ‘Mass redundancies, restaurants closing. It’s going to be pretty grim.’
Yet Marcus explained that he refuses to let his staff complain, instead encouraging them to follow the latest lockdown rules and stay safe.
He said: ‘I’ve said to the teams, “If someone asked you to sit at home and get 80 per cent of your wages for doing nothing for three or four months, most people would snap your hand off.” So I’m not accepting anyone moaning at me at the moment.’
The chef added that the message to his teams was ‘we’re all in this together’ since he has the same bills to pay, while not having a wage since February.
But despite a second lockdown starting today, the TV chef (pictured in October 2019), based in Wimbledon, told The Times that he refuses to accept any of his furloughed staff ‘moaning’
Elsewhere, Marcus candidly admitted that if restaurants were ever closed for good, he would love to become a HGV driver, or go into gardening or farming.
The chef also shared his belief that the future of the hospitality sector will be outside central London, with Marcus already looking at sites in Wimbledon.
He said that those places remained packed during the pandemic, when government restrictions allowed it, because people chose to eat locally.
In August, judge Marcus filmed MasterChef: the Professionals, which starts on November 10 on BBC One.
His restaurants, which reopened in October after first closing in March, are the Marcus, at the Berkeley, a hotel in Knightsbridge, where he holds a Michelin star, and the Gilbert Scott (pictured), at the St Pancras Renaissance Hotel in King’s Cross
In August, Marcus filmed MasterChef: the Professionals, which starts on November 10 on BBC One. He appears alongside New Zealand chef, Monica Galetti (pictured in December 2019)
He appears alongside New Zealand chef, Monica Galetti, 45, who was born in Samoa.
Monica, who has appeared on the contest which sees professional chefs trying to make a name for themselves since 2009, spent the first lockdown in Surrey with her husband David and their teenage daughter.
But she did briefly consider returning to New Zealand, which has appeared to have had more success controlling the virus than the UK.
She told the publication that she believes the hospitality industry won’t begin to recover until 2022.
Luckily, she hasn’t had to make any staff at her restaurant Mere, in London, redundant yet. A third of Marcus’ staff returned to their families across Europe.
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