Average pub lost
PUBS finally gearing up to welcome back indoor drinkers have lost an average £40,000 of takings.
The figure comes from a study by insurer Simply Business, which also found 68% of hospitality business owners have suspended trading at some stage during the pandemic.
With pubs, restaurants and other venues allowed to serve food and drink inside from Monday, the British Beer and Pub Association estimates 45,000 pubs will reopen on the first day possible.
They are expected to serve around three million pints on Monday alone, it estimates.
Emma McClarkin, BBPA chief executive, said: “After some questionable weather during the past week or so, we know people are looking forward to being back inside the pub once more.”
But the BBPA estimated that 2,000 pubs, 5% of all the boozers in the UK, will still stay closed next
week due to the social-distancing restrictions. Customers will have to order, eat and drink while seated.
The reopening of outside spaces last month eased some of pressure on those pubs able to serve.
Figures show pubs and restaurant takings were down just 26% in April on pre-pandemic levels.
The figure covers three full weeks of outside-only service in England as well as a briefer trading period in
Scotland and Wales. Report authors CGA called it a “solid return to trading” but it revealed the scale of the carnage caused by a year of lockdowns, with sales in the past year down 56%. Estimates suggest the UK’s food and drinks industry has lost at least £25.6billion due to Covid. Data from TheFork, formerly Bookatable, shows bookings are 46% higher for next week than when outdoor serving resumed on April 12. Patrick Hooykaas, UK MD of TheFork, warned that people not showing up for bookings would have “a huge impact on the industry”.
Also to open on Monday are cinemas and children’s play areas, hotels, hostels and B&Bs, and indoor adult group sports and exercise classes.
Some larger performances and sporting events in indoor venues will be allowed too. Up to 30 people will be able to attend weddings, receptions, funerals and wakes.