Bosses of Red Lion pubs: It’ll be a miracle if we all survive
THE RED Lion pub across the road from Downing Street can boast a roaring trade from politicians, but namesake pubs across Britain are being hammered by the pandemic and mixed messages from No 10.
After Boris Johnson urged people to ‘think carefully’ before venturing out over the festive break, a snapshot poll of Red Lion pubs by The Mail On Sunday found 90 per cent had seen Christmas takings fall compared with 2019.
A third of Red Lion pubs said it was ‘likely’ or ‘very likely’ they would have to shut down permanently if a new lockdown is imposed in the New Year. A fifth said they would have to shut if the ‘rule of six’ returns, limiting gatherings to six people from two households.
Nearly half saw festive sales tumble by more than 50 per cent compared with pre-pandemic levels, while a fifth reported that trade was down by up to 75 per cent.
Nine out of ten Red Lions said they had suffered booking cancellations, with two-thirds losing up to half of their table bookings.
‘Our trade has just died a death because people have been too nervous to go out and celebrate over Christmas,’ said Jeanne MasonMarper, who runs the Red Lion in Litton, Derbyshire. ‘Things are worse now than they were when we reopened after the last lockdown.’
Last month the Government announced new grants of £2,700 to £6,000 to help pubs, but the average UK venue lost £10,000 in the week before Christmas alone, according to industry body UK Hospitality. Chris East, who runs Ye Olde Red Lion in Holme-on-Spalding-Moor, in East Yorkshire, said: ‘We get a grant of £2,700 which just about covers our wage bill for one week. We would have been better off being closed down altogether.’
Greg Mulholland, director of the Campaign For Pubs, warned that pubs were ‘drowning in debt’.
In our survey of 33 pubs, landlords were split on the Government’s support package, with 39 per cent rating it ‘bad’ or ‘very bad’ and 37 per cent ‘good’ or ‘very good’.
A Treasury spokesman said: ‘We’ve supported people’s jobs and incomes throughout the pandemic through our £400 billion package of support, and will continue to do so through our additional £1billion support package for the hospitality and leisure sector.’