Kentish Gazette Canterbury & District
‘We face the fight of our lives in these unchartered waters’
The boss of Kent’s biggest brewery admits pubs are facing a threat like never before - but says it’ll be doing all it can to protect its landlords...
Landlords face an unprecedented challenge to ensure pubs across Kent survive the coronavirus crisis, says the chief executive of Shepherd Neame.
Jonathan Neame - whose brewery has more than 200 pubs in the county - fears the industry could struggle to emerge from the fallout of the pandemic if it continues through to the summer.
For now, “brilliant landlords and their brilliant teams” are doing what they can to adapt - and are continuing to play a big part in their communities.
Shepherd Neame itself is offering its hotels to the NHS for accommodation and donating all food at closed establishments to local food banks and the homeless. It will also do its utmost to protect its own landlords.
But Mr Neame warns: “If this goes on for a prolonged period then it will be terminal for many outlets.”
The brewery boss admits Boris Johnson’s closure of all pubs, restaurants and hotels came earlier than expected.
But he welcomes Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s announcement that the government will pay 80% of wages for employees not working.
Mr Neame says it means there is a safety net in place, but pubs will still be hit hard. “They can’t survive for that long and if this goes on until the summer, which is their busiest trading period, it will be very difficult,” he said.
“If this is a sustained outbreak and social distancing is in place for a long period of time, then it’s hard to see how we will not lose part of the fabric of British culture.
“We are doing our level best, but these are unchartered waters and profoundly difficult for my team and those running businesses. We have brilliant pubs and brilliant people who work there and the level of stress and anxiety out there is very deep.
“Nobody could envisage this happening.”
Despite the dark clouds gathering over the industry, many pubs are already adapting - such as offering takeaway services for both food and drink.
“In many villages in Kent, pubs have always been good at adapting their business models to suit the community,” Mr Neame said.
“At the Three Mariners in Oare, they have set up a village Whatsapp group which is looking out for vulnerable people and those who are selfisolating, saying if they can provide meals or help with chores they can.
“There’s this wonderful sense of community involvement of people working together because they want their pub to survive.”
On Friday, Mr Neame announced a raft of measures the brewery, which has 320 pubs in total across the south east, is putting in place to try to weather the storm and protect employees, licensees and the company.
These include directors taking a 20% pay cut, suspending rent receipts from licensees, cancelling the shareholder dividend and ceasing all non-contractual capital expenditure.
The brewery is continuing to produce beer under new and strict access and hygiene controls, including deep cleans, workplace distancing measures and monitoring the temperature of employees.
Mr Neame added: “We have the best pubs in the country and nobody wants to see them close.”