Tiers for beers: pubs face fresh heartache
Maidenhead: COVID restrictions ‘devastating for hospitality’
COVID restrictions after lockdown are going to ‘rip the heart out’ of the hospitality industry, a pub chairman has claimed.
With the country going into another three-tier system, pubs and restaurants are waiting to see how they can operate from December 2.
The Government is due to announce today (Thursday) which tiers areas will be placed in.
Tier 1 would see pubs open until 11pm – but only taking orders up to 10pm.
In Tier 2, they should only open if they can serve a ‘substantial meal’, while the final tier would see them close, except for delivery and takeaways.
Mark Newcombe, chairman
of the managing committee at the Craufurd Arms, in Gringer Hill, says he does not find it viable to open in any tier.
He expects the Royal Borough to be in Tier 2, although the council’s lead member for health was not certain about this (see page 4).
“Basically [in Tier 1] we can serve up until 10pm – and we have to employ our staff for an [extra] hour and make no income,” he said.
The second tier would also cause problems for the community-owned Craufurd, which would find it difficult to serve meals.
“I have been hearing from people, and the general view is this is going to rip the heart out of the hospitality business,” Mark added.
“The likelihood is we won’t be open until the end of
March. We will just sit this out. We need support from the Government.
“It is going to be devastating for the industry. It is not just the pubs, it is the supply chain; the breweries.
“They [the Government] have completely thrown community pubs under the bus.”
Despite restrictions, Mark was confident the Craufurd would return. “We will be there at the other end,” he said.
Elsewhere, in Holyport, The White Hart tweeted to say it would be renaming itself as ‘The Sacrificial Lamb’.
“Wet-led pubs are slowly but
surely being destroyed by the ever-growing restrictions placed on us,” it added on Tuesday.
Restaurants and cafes are also awaiting news on how they can do business.
The Strawberry Grove is a cafe with locations in Maidenhead, Marlow and Lane End.
Co-owner Stuart Downs said: “Maidenhead has never returned to the same levels of footfall since spring this year,
so local businesses need their customers more than ever.
“However, we are really pleased to re-open our doors to our Maidenhead customers next week and will be serving our full menu of coffees, cakes and brunch.
“We really look forward to welcoming you all back.”
The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy has been contacted for comment.