END OF THE ROAD FOR SHUT PUB
Chain reveals city venue won’t reopen
ONE of Stoke-on-trent’s biggest pubs will not reopen following the coronavirus pandemic.
The Sneyd Arms, in Sneyd Green, has remained closed despite pubs being allowed to reopen since July.
The closure was initially blamed on the venue’s ‘nooks and crannies’ which made ‘safe social distancing’ difficult. But hospitality giant Greene King has now revealed the Hanley Road pub is among 79 of its venues which will not reopen.
Asked about the future of the Sneyd Arms, a Greene King spokesman said: “It’s always a difficult decision to close a pub and we’re working with our teams locally to try to find them a role in another of our sites.
“We would like to thank all of our customers who have visited the Sneyd Arms over the years.”
Greene King – which owns 3,100 pubs, restaurants and hotels across the UK – has been particularly hard hit since the imposition of the
Government’s 10pm curfew. About 800 jobs are also set to be lost.
In a statement this month, a spokesman for Greene King said: “The continued tightening of the trading restrictions for pubs, which may last another six months, along
with the changes to Government support was always going to make it a challenge to reopen some of our pubs. Therefore, we have made the difficult decision not to reopen 79 sites.
“Around one-third will be closed permanently and we hope to be able to reopen the others in the future.
“We urgently need the Government to step in and provide tailored support to help the sector get through to the spring and prevent further pub closures and job losses.”