BBPA says removing all restrictions in pubs on 21st June is essential to survival of sector
The British Beer & Pub Association has today revealed it estimates 42 million pints of beer will be sold in Britain’s pubs over the Spring bank holiday weekend – 21 million fewer pints than normal.
The trade association says that despite a positive looking first week of indoor and outdoor trading, the restrictions currently placed on pubs including table service only are significantly reducing the number of customers they can host and thus the number of pints they are selling.
It means that this bank holiday weekend alone pubs will lose out on £80 million in revenue from pint sales – down 34% on revenue for a normal spring bank holiday weekend and crucially revenue that could be the difference between survival and closure for so many pubs.
At present, approximately 95% of the UK’s 47,000 pubs have re-opened. However, they face significant restrictions that greatly limit their ability to trade as viable businesses. These restrictions include table service only, 1 metre plus social distancing, table sizes of up to 6 indoors and no bar service.
Upwards of 2,000 pubs are still closed, unable to reopen under the current restrictions in place because they are too small to do social distancing or table service only.
As more and more individuals across the UK receive their vaccination, and with latest updates from the Government and newspaper reports on the Indian variant looking positive, the BBPA says all restrictions must be removed in pubs on 21st June – as per the Government’s roadmap – if pubs are to have a fighting chance of survival and recovering their trade to viable levels.
Emma McClarkin, Chief Executive of the British Beer & Pub Association, said:
“We estimate Brits who go and support their local this bank holiday weekend will buy 42 million pints. Whilst that is better than being closed with no trade at all, it is 21 million pints fewer than normal for the Spring bank holiday.
“Revenues for pubs this bank holiday weekend will be £80 million lower than normal when it comes to beer sales. That is a huge amount of money and could be the difference between surviving or thriving for thousands of pubs in communities across the country.
“Despite 95% of pubs being open, they cannot stay open and survive under the current restrictions they face. Upwards of 2,000 pubs in the UK still aren’t able to reopen at all because they are too small for social distancing or table service only.
“As more and more people get their vaccine, and if reports continue to suggest that the Indian variant is less prevalent than originally believed, all restrictions must be removed in pubs on June 21st as per the Government’s own roadmap.
“Pubs only have a fighting chance of recovering from more than a year of lockdowns and restrictions if they can fully reopen as normal.”
