Pubs and restaurants express relief as their lockdown ends
Hospitality bosses have reacted with cautious optimism after Boris Johnson gave the green light for restaurants and pubs reopening on 4 July.
Industry reaction has been largely relieved this afternoon, albeit with warnings that many businesses will still need financial support from the government as they start trading again.
The Prime Minister announced this afternoon that pubs and restaurants would be able to open early next month with social distancing measures in place.
He also cut the two-metre social distancing rule to a “one-metre plus” rule, whereby additional measures should be taken to avoid unnecessary contact beyond the physical distance.
“Today we can say that our long national hibernation is beginning to come to an end,” he told MPs.
‘A real boon’
Chief Executive of UK Hospitality, Kate Nicholls, said: “Having confirmation of the reopening date is a real boon and affords businesses some time to make the necessary preparations.”
However, she added that financial help from the government was more vital now than ever.
“Many businesses have been closed for months with no revenue and are now facing substantial rent and PAYE bills.
“We need financial help from the Government, otherwise some of these businesses are going to go under right at the point at which they are allowed to open once again.”
“While many venues will endeavour to reopen on 4 July, capacities will be constrained by social distancing and some may be unable to trade viably at all, so continued government support will remain crucial.”
Meanwhile, she added that reducing the two-metre social distancing rule would be “a huge help to hospitality”.
“The two-metre rule would have capped capacity for most venues at around 30 per cent.
“Reduction to one-metre should see most venues able to trade at around 70 per cent of capacity, which could be the difference between failure and staying alive to see out the remainder of the crisis, particularly with added support.”
‘Long road to recovery’ for pubs
Meanwhile, Emma McClarkin, chief executive of the British Beer & Pub Association, said: “This is an important step for us but it is just the first step on what will be a very long road to recovery for our sector.
“Whilst the government hasn’t given us the three weeks minimum notice we asked for to get our pubs ready for reopening, thankfully as an industry we already started our preparations to ensure our pubs were ready to open when we were given the green light.
“We do have significant concerns over the collection and storage of personal customer data when visiting the pub.
“We welcome the Prime Minister’s pledge to work with the sector to make this manageable as it poses significant logistical challenges. We will work with Government on how we could help collect data for track and trace purposes.”
M Restaurant boss warns of track and trace impact
Martin Williams, chief executive of steak restaurant chains M and Gaucho, told City A.M. that the government’s track and trace system would likely hit small restaurants the hardest.
“The small restaurants are the ones which are really going to struggle throughout this whole process.
“If 50 per cent of their workforce is taken out after being exposed to coronavirus, it’s going to be a real issue for them and they may have to close.”
Moreover, he added, when rent payments which have been deferred through the lockdown are finally due to landlords, it could spell trouble for many.
“Unless government intervenes to support on rents [that have been deferred over lockdown] then small businesses will collapse come September if not before.
“There will be a honeymoon period. But once you get past that, how many people are going to be unemployed? It is a fairly bleak outlook for the next few months.
“We’re very fortunate that we have good cashflow and we’re in a position where we can ride this out, but there will be a lot of restaurants who don’t have the cashflow to do that.”
Green King chief urges greater clarity
Nick Mackenzie, Greene King chief executive said: “It is great that we finally have the news we’ve all been waiting for; a confirmed opening date for pubs and a change to social distancing from two metres to one.
“It is a welcome relief for pub operators, our team members who want to get back to work and of course our customers who have been missing their local pub.
“We now urgently need the detailed government guidelines so that we can check we have the correct measures in place to reopen safely for our team members and customers.”
Hotel chief demands lifting of quarantine rules
Hotelier Sir Rocco Forte was not so keen on the decision to keep the rule which requires visitors from other countries or people returning to the UK from abroad to quarantine for 14 days at home.
“Some of these moves go in the right direction, but the Government needs to lift the quarantine rules which everybody agrees are completely unnecessary and ridiculous,” he said.
“It’s no good just reducing the social distancing rule from two metres to one metre – that won’t help businesses which rely on international travellers because they simply won’t be coming here. It leaves me unable to open my UK hotels because it is just not economically viable.
“We are stopping people from coming to this country and saying that the UK is closed for business. These rules need to be lifted straight away.
“I also cannot see the sense in creating bureaucracy for pubs and restaurants by requiring them to take the names and addresses of people coming onto their premises.
“That is completely and utterly unnecessary and is going to make it difficult for them to operate efficiently if at all.”
Hundreds of brewers and pubs ‘on the precipice’
The Society of Independent Brewers, meanwhile, said its industry needed much more government support.
Chief executive James Calder said: “The Prime Minister’s announcement today is what the nation has been waiting for. But hundreds of brewers and thousands of pubs are still on the precipice. Many will struggle with table service only when ordering from a bar can be done safely.
“Beer sales will not return to normal levels anytime soon, so the UK’s brewers need a continued support package and a clear roadmap for how they will be financially supported.
“Government has failed to meet its own timetable, and failed to support brewers in the same way the rest of hospitality has been. Whilst today’s news is a positive step, we have a lot more work to do yet.”
‘A huge relief’ for wine and spirit trade
Miles Beale, chief executive of the Wine and Spirit Trade Association, said it was a “huge relief”.
“It is right that opening up comes with some caution in order to protect the public and ensure that we don’t end up with a second spike putting us back to square one,” he said.
“This welcome news does not mean that the hospitality sector and their suppliers are no longer in need of government support.
“Recovery from the loss of trade over the last few months will mean that some businesses will not be able to open immediately or fully and others will take years to get themselves back on an even keel.”
More to follow.