Hospitality firms face ‘worst of both worlds’ without more support
Hospitality firms have warned that pubs and bars in “tier one and two areas” will have “the worst of all worlds” as they will have to keep trading without the financial support available to those businesses forced to close.
Today Merseyside was placed under “tier-three” restrictions, which will see pubs and bars shuttered unless they operate as restaurants serving “substantial” meals.
Hospitality businesses in tier one and two areas can remain open, but must continue to operate under a 10pm curfew.
Last week chancellor Rishi Sunak announced he would extend the furlough scheme for six months for businesses across the UK required to close under local lockdowns.
Sunak said the government will pay two thirds of employees’ salaries at a maximum of £2,100 a month to businesses forced to close under fresh lockdown measures.
UK Hospitality chief exec Katie Nicholls said the restrictions meant that some businesses were reaching “the point of no return”.
“There is currently a concerning lack of support on offer for hospitality businesses in tier two, and to a lesser extent tier one, despite their facing restrictions that is seeing trade down by between 40 per cent to 60 per cent.
“They will have the worst of both worlds, operating under significant restrictions without the financial support on offer to tier 3 businesses”, she added.
Nicholls said that the government should rethink the 10pm curfew in areas where coronavirus cases were low.
Emma McClarkin, chief executive of industry body the British Beer & Pub Association (BBPA), said that the extra support should be extended to those businesses in the second tier of restrictions.
“Most pubs will struggle to sustain viable business under tier two with their trade being so heavily impacted. Thousands of local pubs and jobs will be lost for good.
“Grants and the additional job retention support should be available to those pubs facing the middle tier of restrictions and the inevitable further decline in their revenue they face”, she said.
Some hospitality bosses are considering legal action against the move to close pubs early, saying that the Prime Minister has not produced the evidence to explain why they have to do so.
Michael Kill, chief exec of the Night Time Industries Association, said: “This next round of restrictions are hugely disproportionate and unjust, with no scientific rationale or correlation to PHE transmission rates, when compared to other key environments.”
McLarkin added: “Public Health England figures released on Friday show hospitality was responsible for just 3 per cent of total transmissions.
“Where is the merit in closing pubs to combat the virus based on that information? Especially when they are providing a safe and regulated place for people to meet at.”