Pub bosses call for urgent financial support for businesses hit by Tier 2 restrictions

The chief executives of some of the UK’s biggest pub groups have written a letter to chancellor Rishi Sunak calling for urgent financial support for pubs hit by Tier 2 restrictions.

Greene King’s Nick Mackenzie, Fuller’s Simon Emeny, Stonegate’s Simon Longbottom, Mitchells and Butlers’ Phil Urban and Young’s Patrick Dardis have all signed the letter, representing more than 9,500 pubs and bars and more than 105,000 jobs across the country.

The letter said that without further financial support for the pub sector “critical to our survival”, then “lives and livelihoods are at risk”. The group has called for the support made available to hospitality businesses under Tier 3 to be extended to those under Tier 2.

It was confirmed yesterday that London, Essex and Elmbridge will be among those moving into Tier 2 from tomorrow, meaning households cannot mix indoors and the ‘rule of six’ will apply outdoors.

The letter pointed out that this move will mean a further collapse in trade for 2,700 pubs across London’s 32 boroughs, with no access to the emergency support available for those forced to close.

It said: “We have already seen many thousands of jobs lost in our sector as a direct result of the pandemic and if we continue down this path without adequate support we will certainly see more. The perverse reality is that as a sector we are financially better off under Tier 3 Covid measures than we are under Tier 2 and that is surely not right.”

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