More than 1,000 people applied for the same restaurant job in Manchester as the hospitality industry continues to suffer from the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. 

The owners of the 20 Stories skyscraper bar and restaurant, in Spinningfields, have described being ‘staggered’ after receiving four times the usual number of applications in 24 hours. 

D&D London, which owns the site, advertised for a receptionist yesterday and received 963 CVs before the end of the day. 

That number has now climbed to 1,178, the company confirmed to Metro.co.uk.

Carol Cairnes, D&D London’s director of people, said: ‘The sheer number of applicants is staggering, we’ve never seen such a large number come through in such a short amount of time.

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‘Whilst it means we will have the pick of an incredibly large number of highly qualified candidates, it’s very sad to see how many people are in need of employment.

‘I would love to be able to offer them all the position, but of course that’s just not possible at this time.’

According to the latest figures, the number of people claiming unemployment benefit surged to 2.6 million between March and June.

Almost 650,000 employees disappeared from company payrolls during the lockdown, with the majority placed on the government’s furlough scheme which ends in October.

Earlier this month a pub landlord in Wimbledon revealed he’d received nearly 500 applications for two bar jobs. 

Mick Dore said he’d usually expect a dozen or so applications but his vacancies attracted interest from out-of-work air stewards, restaurant managers and shop workers. He ended up employing six people. 

A spokesperson for D&D London added the job in Manchester wasn’t the only one that had seen huge numbers of applications.

She said: ‘Numbers of applicants have certainly increased massively in London. In 24 hours we have had 125 applications for a General Manager role where we would normally see around 20 applicants in the same space of time.

‘We have also received around 15 messages from candidates on LinkedIn expressing interest in the role – which normally rarely happens.’

It comes as the Office for National Statistics reported a slight increase in the number of jobs being advertised.

Between July 10 and July 17, the number of job adverts increased to just over half, 52 per cent, of their 2019 average – a four per cent increase on the start of the month. 

The lowest point for the jobs market was on May 1, when the number of job adverts was 42 per cent of the annual average.

Restaurants and bars have been allowed to reopen since July 4 but most are operating at reduced capacity due to social distancing measures. 

Major chains have announced big waves of redundancies with Burger King, Pizza Express and Pret among those who have said they expect to have to let some staff go. 

In response to the difficulties, Rishi Sunak has announced an ‘eat out to help out’ scheme offering diners discounts on meals. 

But, two weeks before it gets going, the latest figures from HMRC show only a quarter of eligible restaurants have signed up to take part, The Guardian has reported. 

An HMRC spokesperson said: ‘Although restaurants and establishments can register now for the scheme, some may choose not to register until the scheme is launched to the public.

‘Businesses are working hard to ensure their premises are Covid-safe and have plenty of time to sign up. HMRC anticipate a high level of take-up but respect that some restaurants may not choose to take part.’

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