Hawthorn has extended its support to its pubs in response to local lockdowns.
The company believes that Government support offered to pubs in Tier 3 in England, and to those affected by widespread closures in Scotland, and the Fire Break in Wales from this Friday, simply does not go far enough. Pubs still have to cover all normal overheads, and ensure there is food on the tables of their own families at the end of the week. The grants made available by the various Governments, whilst welcome, fail to cover the weekly overheads most businesses encounter.
To ensure pubs are able to come out of this Pandemic in the best possible position Hawthorn leisure are to support them as appropriate with the following packages in place:
- Pubs that move to Tier 3 or are subject to Government closure will have their rent credited at 100% for up to an initial 4 week period. At this point, we would expect Government support to increase, to recognise the impact of these measures across all parts of the industry.
- Pubs in Tier 2 will be offered rent relief ranging from 33% to 80% based on the affordability of their rent against their turnover.
- Pubs in Tier 1 continue to be eligible for our support grant where they can apply for individual support where they are not able to meet all outgoings.
Chief executive Mark Davies said: “The government support offered to pubs in tier three in England, and to those affected by widespread closures in Scotland, and the ‘fire break’ in Wales from this Friday, simply does not go far enough. Pubs still have to cover all normal overheads and ensure there is food on the tables of their own families at the end of the week. The grants made available by the various governments, while welcome, fail to cover the weekly overheads most businesses encounter.
We are also offering all of our partners the chance to co-invest with us through our ‘Partner Investment Fund’ where we will match every £1 spent up to £5,000 each, which does not need to be repaid. This is to help improve outside space and increase internal covers to enable our pubs to maximise their trading opportunity against the ever-changing restrictions in place.”
