‘Too late to rescue December’
PUB BOSSES’ FURY OVER TIER THREE
PUB bosses are dismayed that Nottinghamshire is in Tier Three – the toughest level of coronavirus restrictions – and can’t reopen.
The run-up to Christmas is normally the most lucrative time of the year for pubs, bars and restaurants.
But venues in Tier Three can only offer takeaway.
Hospitality leaders hoped the city and county would be in Tier Two, allowing them to open if they served a substantial meal.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock said all tiers will be reviewed on December 16 but one pub owner says by then the damage will already have been done.
Marc Osborne – who runs The Radcliffe in Radcliffe-on-trent, and The Railway in Lowdham – said: “Tier Three is disastrous for us and the whole industry. Takeaways just won’t cut it in December.
“We found this last lockdown – takeaways [were] way down on the previous time we did it. This has to be that it’s only hospitality and a few other businesses that are actually on lockdown. It’s business as usual for most.
“Going into Tier Three for two weeks to then try and work out of it into Tier Two will come too late to rescue December for most places.”
Tom Holodynsky, Great Northern Group’s operations manager, said: “It’s disappointing to see that Nottinghamshire is still in Tier Three despite the rapidly reducing rate of infection and where all the numbers are now compared to five weeks ago.
“Being unable to open the venues during the busiest month of the year is very frustrating, especially given the fact that continuous calls from the industry for the Government to produce evidence that opening hospitality actually contributing to the R rate in a significant way continue to go unanswered.”
Mr Holodynsky, whose pubs include the Cross Keys in Southbank, the Navigation in Nottingham and The Refinery and Waterside Bar and Kitchen in West Bridgford, added: “Hospitality is practically the only industry operating in a Covidsecure manner with track and trace, sanitiser stations and social distancing plus all the other restrictions placed upon us, such as the curfew.
“We’ve met every challenge presented to us at a great cost to the businesses yet continue to be persecuted with no real support.
“Supermarkets offer none of these things yet remain open with no restrictions and, of course reap the rewards at the expense of responsible retailers in the ontrade which makes up for a lot of the Nottinghamshire economy.
“I would like to see supermarkets hit with the same restrictions, such as no alcohol served unless with the purchase of substantial food – this would level it up a bit.
“If hospitality was the only place you were allowed to mix households, then imagine what that would do for both the economy and the R rate.
“It’s a shame Downing Street can’t see hospitality is part of the solution, not the problem.”
Andy Crawford, operations director of the Pub People Company chain – including Bunkers Hill in the city centre, the Black Swan in Edwinstowe and Hop Pole in Chilwell – said: “The new Tier Three is extremely restrictive in terms of financial viability for all pubs.
“The requirement to serve only takeaway food is ill conceived when shopping malls will be packed with people coming into close contact with each other.
“Having made this decision the Government must now detail how they are going to support small, medium and large hospitality businesses between now and Easter.
“Other EU countries have really stepped up to the mark and initiated well-thought-out financial help rather than the scattergun, disorganised approach from our leadership teams at central and local level.
“The hospitality industry is a major employer and major contributor to the tax income of the Treasury as well as supporting a myriad local supply chain businesses. Wellcommunicated support strategies are now required so that these businesses can plan for the next four months, having little or no income but still having significant expenses.”
The announcement came as a survey by Greene King and Yougov. revealed that 72 percent of the public believe that pubs are important places for lonely people over the festive period.
Karl Gibson, general manager of the Ye Olde Trip pub in Nottingham, said: “It has been really difficult closing our doors for the second lockdown, although we understand why we’ve had to.
“For us, here in the East Midlands, pubs like ours provide a really important place for people to come together and we see first-hand how important that is for our community.
“Whilst this Christmas will be different this year, we want to be able to open our doors again and welcome our customers safely back to the pub so we can help create the spirit of the festive season for them.”