Landlord’s anger as £2k of beer is going down drain
‘ABSOLUTELY RIDICULOUS’ - PUB MAN TOLD 24 HOURS TO SHUT
A HUCKNALL landlord has spent thousands of pounds on alcohol for this weekend only to be told he has 24 hours to close his pub.
Steve Baker, owner of Baker and Bear in Watnall Road, has been in business since November last year and was already running at reduced capacity due to restrictions.
He was told last week that Ashfield would not fall under the same Tier 3 restrictions as Nottingham city, Gedling, Rushcliffe and Broxtowe and it would remain in Tier 2 from today - Thursday, October 29.
But now the whole county has been added to the list in a last-minute decision by the government, which will mean pubs and bars that don’t serve substantial menus will close for 28 days.
The measures will come into force at 00.01am tomorrow.
Mr Baker said he has voted since the age of 18 and has now decided he will never vote again because he feels completely let down by politicians and the Government.
He has spent £500 tapping all of his real ales and ordering £2,000 worth of beer ready for this weekend, which will now go to waste in his pub.
He told the Post: “It is absolutely ridiculous. I had £2,000 of beer ordered for this weekend and I am going to lose it.
“It is like asking plumber to come round to your house to do a job, spending all the money on a new radiator and equipment, and then being told ‘we aren’t doing it anymore’.
“This has not been planned. They could not organise a knees-up in a brewery. It is diabolical. If they told me the same time as they told Nottingham city about Tier 3 it would be fair enough.
“Landlords have stocked up for the weekend. No-one cares about us. They need to be more transparent. I am furious.
“I have lost all my faith in government. I will never vote again.”
Mr Baker said he already knows of landlords who will “throw in the towel” because they can no longer survive in this climate.
“It has decimated pubs. This will be the nail in the coffin for them,” he added. “I am down to 20 percent.”
Councillor Jason Zadrozny, leader of Ashfield District Council, was present at the government meeting to discuss the area going into Tier 3.
He told the Post: “The whole county is going into Tier 3 lockdown at one minute past midnight on Friday morning, and this will last for 28 days.
“It wasn’t really a consultation or asking what we are okay with, it was them telling us we are doing it.
“The clinical commissioning groups and health leaders were pressing that if they don’t get a grip on the curve then hospitals won’t have capacity to cope.
“In Mansfield and Ashfield the whole problem is with the over-60s, and the curve is going up dramatically with people in intensive care and needing ventilator treatment. “The main concession we got is that they wanted to implement it tonight (Wednesday) at midnight which was frankly a joke.
“It was the main argument of the meeting but it would have meant giving a load of businesses 12 hours’ notice to close. That is ludicrous and it would have been us having to do it.”
They could not organise a knees-up in a brewery. It is diabolical. No-one cares about us
Steve Baker