‘This is going to kill a part of the pub trade’
PUB landlords in Burton have been speaking out about their frustration after the area was placed into strict Tier 3 Covid-19 restrictions.
The announcement made yesterday by the Government means that pubs, bars and restaurants cannot reopen after lockdown.
They will be allowed to offer a takeaway, collection or delivery service.
Sam Rice, boss of The Loaf and Cheese, in Waterloo Street, fears the consequences of the news.
She said: “This is going to kill a good proportion of the pub trade.
“It’s just hitting the hospitality industry. It’s horrendous.
“I cannot understand why we’re in Tier 3 and London is in Tier 2; I just don’t understand why this has happened.”
David Rowe, who runs the Three Horseshoes, in Barton, said: “This will be absolutely detrimental to the pub industry in the long term.
“I think it will cause roughly 30 per cent of the pubs in the area to close.”
Mr Rowe, however, was expecting to be placed into Tier 3.
He said: “To be honest, we expected it, but we’re still disappointed. Now we just have to live with it.
“It’s an everchanging scenario and it’s very easy to criticise the government in hindsight.
“However, if we do open fully in January, we may still struggle.”
Emma Golding, the owner of The Grove in Stapleton, said: “I’m gutted. Even if we do move to Tier 2 in the New Year, I don’t know how we can open.
“I do feel that it has been directly targeted at the pubs.
“We abided by the rules this year and it is still not fair that we are being treated this way. I’m not going down without a fight.”
Nick Mackenzie, chief executive of pub company Greene King, which employs scores of workers at its Burton offices, said: “With 99 per cent of the country in Tiers 2 or 3, this remains lockdown in all but name for nearly all pubs during the most important trading month of the year. “This puts hundreds of thousands of jobs at risk and places the future of British pubs in even greater doubt for the years ahead. “Pubs have been at the centre of communities for hundreds of years and we urgently need additional support to help the industry through the winter to the spring when the effects of better weather and a vaccine can hopefully begin to show.
“We are ready to open and trade and have invested millions of pounds in safety measures but large numbers of pubs are simply not financially viable under the tier two and three restriction.”