Beer and pub group say Tier 3 restrictions will be 'devastating' for Lancaster district pubs, brewers and wider supply chain

The Britsh Beer and Pub Association (BBPA), has responded to last week's announcement that Lancashire would be placed into Tier 3 Covid-19 restrictions.

Emma McClarkin, Chief Executive of the BBPA, said that the new restrictions will have a devastating impact on pubs, brewers and their wider supply chain unless a proper support package is available to all businesses impacted.

Lancaster and Fleetwood MP Cat Smith said that businesses who are still recovering from the first lockdown have been forced to close with no financial support package available to immediately help with their costs and outgoings.

She said: "It’s not right and the government needs to have a plan when areas are put into tighter lockdown areas like we have in Lancashire.”

Emma McClarkin said: “Pubs in Lancashire are already struggling with the 10pm curfew, rule of six, lower levels of consumer confidence and a huge drop in domestic and international tourism.

“These additional tier three measures mean pubs in Lancashire can only remain open if they serve substantial meals, but with even more restrictions including no mixed household groups either inside or outside and only being allowed to serve alcohol with a substantial meal.

"This will completely kill the business model of up to 400 pubs.

"The remaining 800 pubs who don’t serve substantial meals will be forced to close completely. The survival of all pubs in either of these categories is hanging dangerously in the balance.

“Countless jobs will be lost too if the Government doesn’t takes action. We are a people business – our staff and customers are everything – we are nothing without them.

"In Lancashire alone, 20,000 livelihoods are supported by these local pubs.

“Government must now do the right thing and provide our sector with a job retention scheme that will truly protect jobs.

“We also need urgent clarity on cash grants that must properly cover the lost revenue and high fixed costs these pubs face.

"The Government’s current grants – as low as £325 per week for many pubs – are simply not enough.

"Grant support given to them needs to be in line with the vastly bigger funds available in Scotland and Northern Ireland.

"These grants need to be exempt from State Aid restrictions to ensure they reach all the businesses that need protecting.

“Support also needs to be made available to brewers and the wider supply chain businesses also seeing their custom taken from them overnight. We desperately need this if we want our local pubs to survive to serve their communities and support thousands of local jobs.“The Government must also clarify how long the tier three restrictions will be in place and what criteria the decisions for moving out of it will be based on. We urge the Government to work closely with our sector on this.”

Lancaster City Coun Tim Hamilton-Cox, cabinet member with responsibility for sustainable economic growth, said: “We understand that these are worrying times for businesses and the city council is doing all it can to provide them with the help and support they need.

“Over the weekend the council contacted the vast majority of pubs and bars subject to closure to advise them of the new restrictions and ensure they were aware of their responsibilities.

"We are now following this up with visits from the Environmental Health team to ensure that those which have to close have done so.

“We are also fielding questions from businesses to help them to understand what is and isn’t okay. A number of pubs which normally only sell alcohol are quite understandably trying to find ways in which they can legally operate, by either serving food or effectively turning themselves into a café that is not serving alcohol.

We are assisting them with their queries to ensure that, should they decide to reopen, they are doing so within the law.

“Discussions are ongoing with Government on the finer points of the business support package and we are pressing for this to be agreed and for the details to be released as quickly as possible.

“Our Business Support Hub is also available to provide guidance on existing support programmes as well as offer general advice and support to help businesses combat the pressures they may have found themselves under in the wake of the coronavirus. It can be contacted by emailing [email protected].”

The council said its Public Protection team is working with the Local Government Association and Liverpool city region to refine the definition of a "substantial meal" as far as is possible.

But it said its working definition is, ‘The sort of meal that you would expect to have as a midday or evening meal.’

A spokesperson said: "This means that we would not expect a business to consider a small snack or side order to be interpreted as a substantial meal.

"But we expect that most businesses are responsible and will abide by the spirit of the regulations."