‘I never imagined a pandemic would form my bad luck’
Debt hell for bar launched on Friday 13th
ABUSINESSMAN who opened his first bar just a few months before the coronavirus crisis hit has revealed he will be around £60,000 in debt after lockdown ends.
Peter Connolly sold his home and ploughed his life savings into Nortons, a live music venue and bar in Digbeth which opened on Friday, December 13, 2019.
But the venue, co-owned by his mother Anna, was hit hard by the lockdown restrictions of 2020 – meaning the debts have piled up.
“I knew Friday the 13th was supposed to be unlucky but the whole year has been a write-off,” Mr Connolly said. “Never in a million years would anyone think the bad luck would take the shape of a once-in-acentury pandemic.
“When restrictions do lift and I can reopen, but I’ll be heavily in debt. We’ll owe about £60,000 to various companies and for the overheads I have not been able to pay.
“For example, I have to pay £1,500 every month on a canopy I had installed last October to help create a Covid-safe environment. But I’ve had little use out of it.
“Our accountants are £1,000 a month, National Insurance is a grand a month, building insurance is £1,500 a month, the list goes on.
“My fixed costs totalled £4,966 per month for the past year.
“Debt is a frightening thought but that’s my reality. Since opening in December 2019, I’ve had 12 weeks’ trading. But I cannot afford to see my business to go under.”
Mr Connolly left his job as culture and heritage project officer for Birmingham Irish Association to focus on his dream of transforming the former factory into a music venue.
He said: “When I took on the lease to open Nortons in September 2019, I had a lot of refurbishment work to do because I was essentially building a pub from scratch in a factory. My rent is £2,416 per month but my landlords were understanding and gave me a rental holiday up to March 2020.”
But the subsequent hospitality restrictions, including the ban on live music, the rule of six socialising, a 10pm curfew and social distancing, left him unable to make the rent even when he was allowed to open.
Mr Connolly said: “Since March 2020, my landlords have further deferred all rent payments and have agreed to wait until after this lockdown is over. I’m grateful for that – or I would have already gone under.
“But it means that when I finally am able to reopen I will owe well over a year’s worth of rent.
“What is really worrying for venues like mine is that social distancing will be here for quite a while yet – at least until everyone is vaccinated. We’re an 800-people capacity venue that has been capped at 200 since Covid.
“Whether they’re going to charge us half price for the time we’ve been closed, then full rent for when we reopen has not yet been decided.”
Boris Johnson has confirmed that the current lockdown could last until the end of March, with ministers now reportedly looking at May Bank Holiday for reopening pubs and bars.
“I am entitled to a £3,000 monthly local restrictions support grant from the Government paid via Birmingham City Council. I am still waiting for the council to pay me for November and December. With every passing day, it becomes a more desperate situation.”
On the grant payment delays, Cllr Brigid Jones, deputy leader for Birmingham City Council, said: “Since November, with the exception of Tier one, Birmingham has been placed in all of the different tier levels so we are having to crosscheck each individual application against the eligibility criteria for numerous grants, many of which have variables depending upon the tier we were in at the time.
“With the number of applications and varying eligibility criteria, our officers will have to review over 60,000 scenarios where businesses could be entitled to funds.”