Rules mean hundreds of our pubs forced to remain closed
An estimated two-thirds of venues in the county have not been able to reopen due to the Tier 2 ‘substantial meal’ rules
Hundreds of pubs in West Sussex have been unable to open their doors in December due to the Tier 2 restrictions in place, analysis suggests.
The British Beer and Pub Association estimates that two-thirds of pubs in the county – 332 venues – have been forced to remain closed during the festive period so far.
Thisis becausetheyserveno food or make a low percentage of their overall turnover from selling meals.
Under Tier 2 ‘ High Alert’ restrictions, which came into force across West Sussex last week, pubs and bars can only serve alcohol on the premises with a ‘substantial meal’.
Even those which are able to openwill see a58percentdrop in their December turnover compared to the same month last year, the trade body has estimated.
A number of Horsham pubs and bars have told of their sadness after being unable to open due to the restrictions in place.
Mungo’s Bar in Park Place announced ‘with a heavy heart and countless sleepless nights’ that it will ‘remain closed for the foreseeable while we land in Tier 2’.
“The Government’s continued onslaught of illthought out restrictions have decimated our industry and left us, like many other businesses around the country, unable to continue operating despite being out of lockdown.”
The Norfolk Arms in Roffey says it has ‘little to no hope of opening the doors until 2021, unless lowered into Tier 1’.
And landlords at the Malt Shovel in Springfield Road said they were ‘desperately sad’ to not be able to open while Horsham is in Tier 2 restrictions.
Also remaining shut is the Stout House in Horsham’s Carfax saying it won’t be reopening yet ‘as we cannot meet the criteria for serving substantial meals’.
The bars have received an outpouring of public support on social media.
Pubs all over West Sussex are suffering.
The Maypole Inn, in Yapton which does not serve food, is one of those which has been unable to welcome back customers after lockdown.
Ian Smith, who has run the pub alongside his wife Sam for the last three years, said: “It just doesn’t work. For awet-led pub, being forced to do food, it’s absolutely crazy.”
The pub has had offers of support, including from a local burger van which volunteered to park outside, and from customers, who offered to bring along their own scotch egg after the environment secretary, George Eustice, suggested this qualified as a meal.
But for a village pub like The Maypole Inn, Ian said the rules around households mixing presenting the biggest challenge.
“I could do food quite easily,” he said. “It’s the separating people – that’s the major hurdle.”
As the only pub in Yapton, The Maypole Inn is a meeting place for the community, with a clientele almost exclusively made up of local people.
One of the busiest times for the business is 4pm, when the builders come in. But despite having workedtogether all day, they would be forced to sit at different tables.
“These are people that live in the same village and work together,” he said. “But because they’re from different households, they have to separate. I don’t get it. It’s just ridiculous.”
Unlike a big, anonymous pub in a city, Ian knows most of the locals by name and would immediately recognise if people from different households were sitting together.
“It puts a lot of onus on the landlord to control it,” he said.
Ian said it was a blow to find out the area would be put under Tier 2 restrictions, especially considering it had been in a lower tier before lockdown was introduced.
“We kept an eye on the numbers, none of them went up,” he said. “If anything they were going down.”
Ian said he would like to see individual checks made on pubs, on a weekly basis for example, so that if they were found to be following certain rules they could reopen with more freedom.
But unless things change, he cannot see the pub reopening anytime soon.
“Until there’s a complete relaxation in the mixing of households, I don’t think we canopen, because of howwe’re set up,” he said.
Even if West Sussex moves into a different tier on December 16 following a review, it would only leave a few days before Christmas, and Ian fears there could potentially be a new lockdown in January following the fiveday relaxation over the festive period.
The Prime Minister has announced a one-off £1,000 ‘Christmas grant’ to support pubs in Tier 2 and 3 that predominantly serve alcohol rather than food, like The Maypole Inn.
But Ian said this amounted to just two days worth of takings pre-Covid – pointing out that he has already had to throw away hundreds of pounds worth of unused stock in the last few weeks.
It is not just the pub that is suffering financially, he added, but the many other businesses that rely on it being open for their own trade – from local breweries to taxi drivers and take-aways. “It’s a huge knock on effect,” he said.
Emma McClarkin, chief executive of the British Beer and Pub Association, called on the Government provide more support to pubs.
“We need the Government to recognise the impact of these restrictions and urgently provide more financial support,” she said.
“We cannot overstate how serious the situation is currently facing our staff, communities and businesses.
“The future of hundreds of breweries, thousands of pubs and tens of thousands of jobs hangs in the balance.”
A Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy spokesman said: “We understand the pressure businesses are currently under, particularly the hospitality industry.
“These restrictions, which are reviewed every 14 days, are essential so we can control the virus, protect the NHS and save lives.”
He added that the £1,000 grant for pubs accompanied a ‘wide-ranging package of financial support’, including the extendedfurloughscheme, other business grants, loan schemes and business rates holidays.