BBPA responds to tier three measures set to be placed on South Yorkshire from Saturday, calling for more support to save the region’s pubs and breweries and 17,900 sector jobs The British Beer & Pub Association, the leading trade association representing brewers and pubs, has today responded to the news that tier three lockdown measures will be placed on South Yorkshire from Saturday 24th October, severely impacting 982 pubs and 17,900 sector jobs worth £302 million to the local economy. The trade association says a stronger package of financial support is vital not just for pubs, but also brewers and their wider supply chain in South Yorkshire, if they are to survive the further devastating trading restrictions or full closure they face. Emma McClarkin, Chief Executive of the British Beer & Pub Association, said: “Pubs, brewers and their wider supply chain in South Yorkshire face an existential crisis with these tier three restrictions coming in. “A far bigger package of financial support, with wider eligibility for all businesses impacted in the region, is needed if our sector is to survive this crisis. “These additional tier three measures mean pubs in South Yorkshire can only remain open if they serve substantial meals, but with even more restrictions including no mixed household groups either inside or outside and only being allowed to serve alcohol with a substantial meal. This will kill the business model of 327 food led pubs. The remaining 655 pubs who don’t serve substantial meals will be forced to close completely. The survival of all pubs in either of these categories is hanging in the balance. “In South Yorkshire alone, 17,900 livelihoods are supported by local pubs. These jobs will be lost too if the Government doesn’t provide deeper and wider support. We are a people business – our staff and customers are everything – we are nothing without them. “Government must now do the right thing and provide our sector with a job retention scheme that will truly protect jobs in pubs, breweries and their wider supply chain. “We also need clarity on the level of cash grants available that must be sufficient to cover the lost revenue and high fixed costs these pubs face. The Government’s current grants – as low as £325 per week for many pubs – are simply not enough. These grants need to be exempt from State Aid restrictions to ensure they reach all the businesses that need protecting. They must also be delivered quickly to ensure pubs do not permanently close due to lack of cash flow caused by not receiving the grants in time to save them. “Support also needs to be made available to brewers and the wider supply chain businesses also seeing their custom taken from them overnight. We desperately need this if we want our local pubs and breweries to survive to serve their communities and support thousands of local jobs. “Now South Yorkshire has been placed in tier three, the restrictions must be reviewed on a frequent basis – at least every two weeks – and re-categorised as soon as deemed appropriate. To do this the Government must clarify what criteria the decisions for transitioning in and out of the tiering system will be based on. We urge the Government to work closely with our sector on this.”
BBPA responds to tier three measures set to be placed on Greater Manchester, calling for more support to save the region’s 1,900 pubs and 32,000 sector jobs The British Beer & Pub Association, the leading trade association representing brewers and pubs, has today responded to the news that tier three lockdown measures will be placed on Greater Manchester from Friday 23 October, impacting 1,900 pubs and 32,000 sector jobs worth £664 million to the local economy. The trade association says a stronger package of financial support is vital not just for pubs, but also brewers and their wider supply chain in Greater Manchester, if they are to survive the further severe trading restrictions or full closure they face. Emma McClarkin, Chief Executive of the British Beer & Pub Association, said: “Tier three restrictions will have a devastating impact on pubs, brewers and their wider supply chain in Greater Manchester unless a proper support package is available to all businesses impacted. “Pubs in Greater Manchester were already struggling with the 10pm curfew, rule of six, lower levels of consumer confidence and a huge drop in domestic and international tourism. “These additional tier three measures mean pubs in Greater Manchester can only remain open if they serve substantial meals, but with even more restrictions including no mixed household groups either inside or outside and only being allowed to serve alcohol with a substantial meal. This will kill the business model of more than 600 food led pubs. The remaining 1,300 pubs who don’t serve substantial meals will be forced to close completely. The survival of all pubs in either of these categories is hanging perilously in the balance. “Thousands of jobs will be lost too if the Government doesn’t take action. We are a people business – our staff and customers are everything – we are nothing without them. In Greater Manchester alone, 32,000 livelihoods are supported by these local pubs. “Government must now do the right thing and provide our sector with a job retention scheme that will truly protect jobs. “We also need clarity on the level of cash grants available that must be sufficient to cover the lost revenue and high fixed costs these pubs face. The Government’s current grants – as low as £325 per week for many pubs – are simply not enough. These grants need to be exempt from State Aid restrictions to ensure they reach all the businesses that need protecting. They must also be delivered quickly to ensure pubs do not permanently close due to lack of cash flow caused by not receiving the grants in time to save them. “Support also needs to be made available to brewers and the wider supply chain businesses also seeing their custom taken from them overnight. We desperately need this if we want our local pubs to survive to serve their communities and support thousands of local jobs. “Now Greater Manchester has been placed in tier three, the restrictions must be reviewed on a frequent basis – at least every two weeks – and re-categorised as soon as deemed appropriate. To do this the Government must clarify what criteria the decisions for transitioning in and out of the tiering system will be based on. We urge the Government to work closely with our sector on this.”
BBPA responds to lockdown announced for Wales The British Beer & Pub Association, the leading trade association representing brewers and pubs, has today responded to the news that a ‘fire break’ lockdown will be introduced in Wales from 6pm on Friday 23rd October, forcing more than 3,000 pubs to shut until the 9th of November. The Welsh Government announced that grants would be available for some pubs but the trade association says a “far stronger” package of financial support for all pubs, brewers and their supply chains in Wales will be needed if they are to survive a full lockdown. It says 37,000 sector jobs across Wales are at risk too without more support. It says pubs in Wales were already struggling to survive with current restrictions in place including the 10pm curfew, rule of six, and travel ban, on top of low consumer confidence and reduced levels of tourism. Closing down pubs as part of a ‘fire break’ lockdown, it says, will lead many to closing their doors forever unless there is a better package of financial support to help fully compensate all pubs, breweries and the wider supply chain for the lost revenue and to fully cover their high fixed costs. Specifically, the trade association is calling for cash grants that fully cover lost revenue and high fixed costs for all pubs including those with a rateable value above £50k. Additionally, they call for this financial support to be available to breweries and pubs’ wider supply chain who may still be open, but now with a significant loss in revenue resulting from the overnight closure of a major business channel. Emma McClarkin, Chief Executive of the British Beer & Pub Association, said: “This ‘fire break’ in Wales will destroy many pubs, brewers and their supply chains in the country unless the financial support package is available to all businesses hit by the forced closure of all pubs. “There are more than 3,000 pubs in Wales already struggling with the 10pm curfew, rule of six, lower levels of consumer confidence and tourism in addition to the more recent travel ban. A forced full closure will leave many of them fighting for their very survival. “The financial support package announced today leaves many businesses impacted by this forced closure with no additional help. We need the cash grants to fully cover lost revenue and high fixed costs for all pubs including those with a rateable value above £50k. These grants must also be made available to breweries and pub’s wider supply chain who may still be open, but now face a significant loss in revenue resulting from the closure of a major business channel. They must be delivered to businesses quickly to avoid permanent closure through lack of cash flow. “37,000 jobs linked to the sector are at risk too without more support. “The Welsh Government must now urgently do the right thing and extend the availability of the full financial support package to all pubs no matter what their rateable value is, as well as to brewers and pubs’ other suppliers. This is to ensure they survive this fire break lockdown and will be able to serve their communities and to support thousands of local jobs and livelihoods once more. “We urge the Welsh Government to work closely with our sector on this.”
We champion issues that matter to the beer and pub industry. These are causes our members are passionate about; whether it’s promoting beer as the nation’s drink, or campaigning against increases to beer duty and businesses rates that are so damaging to community pubs.