A leading figure at a major Cumbrian hotel and resort has warned operators face an uncertain future as the end of the Government’s furlough scheme looms.

The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme will come to an end on October 31.

Dan Visser, sales and marketing director for the Langdale Estate, near Ambleside, said it was difficult to predict how the end of the scheme may affect jobs in hospitality and tourism.

“The difficult thing is that nobody knows,” he said.

“A cliff edge may be avoided if demand remains really strong. Currently demand for domestic locations to holiday in is very, very strong.”

However, he said this could change quickly if regional restrictions were put in place because of a local outbreak of coronavirus.

“They are becoming stricter and more specific and if that happens in Cumbria we have no idea what the effect of that will be,” he said.

“If the quarantine rules for people coming back from France and Spain are relaxed then we could see demand soften as people go to try and get some winter sun.”

The estate, which includes the Langdale and Brimstone Hotels, as well as self-catering properties, reopened in July. However, it has had to reduce the number of rooms available and the number of people it can serve in its restaurants.

“We have to invest in our people even more so our costs are going up while our capacity is reduced, but we didn’t really expect to make a profit until next summer anyway,” said Dan.

“For a large business like ours it’s manageable, for others it will be a lot more challenging.”

The business was not planning to make any staff cuts.

“We want to protect the business and our reputation through to a time when we will be more profitable,” he said.