‘No matter how we manage things, we will come out at a loss’
CITY’S NIGHT-TIME ECONOMY TAKES A BIG HIT FROM NEW TIER TWO RESTRICTIONS – BUT CUSTOMERS PRAISED FOR STICKING TO RULES
CITY businesses have described the difficulties presented on the first weekend of Nottinghamshire being under the new Tier Two Covid restrictions.
Usually the best nights of the week for revenue in the night-time economy, bars and taxi drivers have spoken of how the 10pm curfew combined with no household mixing indoors is already having an impact on takings.
Ezra Watson, general manager at Six Barrels, which has venues in Hockley and Milton Street, said they were not at capacity at any point on Saturday night.
“Ultimately, we are still quite lucky with our location but at no point did we have to turn anyone away, and we were never full. We took about half what we did on the previous week and the streets were eerie.
“As I see it, no matter how we manage things we will come out at a loss and I think we may start to see businesses close for a couple of weeks until restrictions change.”
Mr Watson said the knock-on effect would be staff getting around half the hours they would usually unless businesses got more support.
“On a positive note, it is good to see Nottingham is listening and rules are being respected, which hopefully will keep us in Tier Two or even bring us down into Tier One.
“My worry is if we linger in Tier Two with no support, we’ll just continue to struggle.
“The 10pm curfew has brought a shift with people coming out earlier, but the single household rule is the hardest part.
“It’s like Christmas Eve or Boxing day when people just stick to their local area rather than come to town. The bottom line is we are still open, which for staff is good to stay in a positive state of mind.”
Over in West Bridgford, Katherine Stone, who manages the Black Pearl bar, said the weekend had been “heartbreaking”, not seeing as many people out as usual.
She said: “There’s definitely been a turn for the worse since the new Tier restrictions.
“We are doing everything we can to keep people safe, but the curfew has taken half our sales, and this weekend we’re down to 20 per cent of those so it’s really hard, especially for staff.
“People might just be being cautious as it is only the first weekend some people just moved their booking to an outside table - but then couldn’t stay as long.
“But I think we are lucky to be in West Bridgford where people are happy to come out in their local area.
“It did seem like a much younger crowd this weekend than usual.
“But everyone is respecting the rules. As with any new legislation there are challenges, but on a positive note we have had some lovely customers and it’s been nice to give more personal service.”
Azeem Hanif, Nottingham chair for the Drivers and Couriers Union, said he was out working in his black cab on Saturday night.
He said: “The new Tier Two restrictions have had another major impact. After the phenomenal success of Eat Out to Help Out, when that ceased, businesses nosedived.
“Now people are not coming into the city. There are still people out, many of them students, so there is some work coming in but it’s not at the same level.”
Mr Hanif described the weekend as a “disaster zone”.
He said: “By 11pm, the city is a ghost town. I was working from 8.30pm to 10.30pm - that is now my time to earn a living. It’s pointless for me to just sit and wait in the rank.”
Mr Hanif said some drivers have not survived the changes and believes more, with little income, will fail to meet high rents.
He said there were around 411 black or green cabs in the city and knows of around 50 whose “plates have gone back to the council”.
“We’re gearing up the busiest time of the year now with Christmas and New Year but parties may be moved earlier or cancelled altogether. It’s going to be a challenging time and there will be more casualties.”