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Covid: Sheffield publican says hospitality sector thrown under a bus

Business owners in South Yorkshire fear for their survival prospects as they face tighter coronavirus restrictions.

Tier three restrictions will apply in the area from 00:01 on Saturday, it has been confirmed.

The rules impose further restrictions on households mixing, while pubs that do not serve substantial meals must close.

One pub owner in Sheffield says the hospitality sector has been "thrown under a bus".

Jamie Hawksworth, who owns the Sheffield Tap, said he saw the new restrictions coming.

"I think I speak for most of my staff, and certainly the management team, that it's devastating. We've had the entire business pulled from under us."

He added that the knock-on effect would be fewer orders for local breweries, abattoirs and other suppliers.

"Hospitality only accounts to 3% of the Covid risk at the moment," he said.

"We pay the most to the government and receive the least. We're basically being thrown under the bus, we're the scapegoat."

The Campaign for Real Ale (Camra) said publicans had done everything to make their premises Covid-secure and the news would be "absolutely devastating" for pubs and breweries.

Chief executive Tom Stainer said: "If pubs across South Yorkshire are to avoid becoming a sacrificial lamb then they need a decent, long-term financial support package.

"This must properly compensate pubs for having to either close altogether or stay open with extremely low footfall whilst they serve food."

He said help would also be needed after restrictions were lifted to avoid pubs having to "close their doors for good before Christmas".

The family-run Acorn Brewery in Wombwell, Barnsley, is facing similar worries to other businesses.

The microbrewery's managing director Dave Hughes said the business was operating at about 20% of the level it was at before the pandemic.

"The whole hospitality sector seems to have been hit very hard compared to other places," he said.

The team of 11 at the brewery has been reduced to four.

"Our team has been broken up and it causes a lot of stress and anxiety," Mr Hughes said.

He said about 95% of his business was supplying pubs, bars and restaurants - like most microbreweries.

Mr Hughes also runs a real ale pub which would have to close under the new restrictions.

"We can't offer a substantial meal. A lots of pubs that don't have a food offering will suffer and those that do, will they get the footfall?

"I suppose, in a sense, tier three for our pub, at least there is funding that we can now tap into."

He also has concerns about how trade will recover when the restrictions end.

"People find the new norm and go to different outlets and when you do reopen you have to battle to get them back."

Paul McNicholas runs three bars in Barnsley and welcomed the tier three restrictions as it means financial support.

He said people were not coming out due to the 22:00 curfew and social mixing restrictions and he had only been opening at the weekend.

"We were finding it difficult to operate under the present restrictions on level two so there was a likelihood we would have closed anyway.

"We were opening the bars and they were running at a loss."

On the new restrictions he said he thought he could cope with the initial 28-day period, but was hopeful they would reopen before Christmas.

"We are reliant a lot on Christmas and I am trying to be optimistic but we feel that we do need that period," he said.

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