London, Essex and Hertfordshire enter tier three

Operators and trade bodies have been responding to the news that tier three lockdown measures will be placed on London and southern parts of Hertfordshire and Essex from Wednesday 16 December. 
 
The BBPA has said that in London alone the restrictions will force 1,250 pubs that remained open in tier two to close, putting nearly 8,000 more sector jobs at risk worth an additional £16m to the local economy. In total, 56,000 sector jobs are now at risk in London alone, as all its 3,680 pubs will now be closed except for takeaway business.   

UKHospitality has said that the government’s tier system places an unfair, illogical and disproportionate burden on hospitality businesses without effectively tackling Covid-19.

“Putting hospitality businesses back into lockdown, which is effectively what tier three amounts to, is not going to tackle increasing infection rates," says UKHospitality chief executive Kate Nicholls. "There’s still no hard evidence that hospitality venues are a significant contributor for the spike in infections. Cases were higher at the end of the last lockdown – during which hospitality was shut down – than at the start." 
 
The BBPA has also highlighted the huge disparity in support offered to pubs in England compared to those in Wales, saying that pubs in London and affected areas of Hertfordshire and Essex will receive support that is four times. 

"This week would normally be a bumper week for pubs in the capital, instead, many will have to close their doors yet again, despite a significant amount of investment to ensure safe socialising," says Nick Mackenzie, CEO at Greene King. "What we need from the government now is further support to help hospitality businesses get through to the spring, so that can come out the other side of this crisis and play an important role in helping the economy to bounce back.”