England’s Pubs Reopen, Just Don’t Try to Drink at the Bar
Cheers? English Pubs Emerge From Lockdown Into Uncertain World
(Bloomberg) --
Pubs, bars and restaurants in England opened their doors for the first time in more than three months to the delight of customers, but landlords sounded a cautious note about the uncertainty that lies ahead for the sector.
While some people lined up for their first pint at 7 a.m., in other areas queues outside newly opened barbershops outstripped drinking establishments. Cloudy, windy weather in much of the country may have deterred the crowds seen on southern beaches during a June heatwave. Still, how quickly pubs recover will largely depend on how willing punters are to leave the lockdown behind.
“I expect our entire sector will be incapable of making a profit for 12 months,” said Roger Ward, owner of Mr. Thomas’s Chop House in central Manchester, setting a gloomy tone that matched the northern city’s skies.
Hospitality represents 5% of the U.K.’s economic output and employs 10% of all workers, trade group UKHospitality said. The industry generates about 38 billion pounds ($47 billion) of tax for the government each year and is the country’s third-largest private-sector employer -- double the size of financial services and bigger than automotive, pharmaceuticals and aerospace combined.
Boris Johnson urged Britons to act responsibly and sensibly as hotels, cinemas and hairdressers also reopen. The U.K. has suffered one of the deadliest outbreaks of the Covid-19 pandemic, with more than 44,000 deaths and 285,000 confirmed cases. At the same time as Johnson was urging Britons to return to pubs, the government was imposing a new lockdown on the city of Leicester in the East Midlands, where cases have been on the rise.
Pubs will face higher costs for everything from staffing to technology. Many have moved to cashless payment systems and have banned drinkers from jostling at the bar for service -- instead they must wait to be served at tables.
“It’s an odd new normal,” said student Oliver Dunn at the Milk House in Sissinghurst, Kent, where staff are wearing large clear visors. “Every time I talk to a waiter or waitress it sounds like they’re talking through a tent.”
Social-distancing requirements mean customers must stay at least 1 meter (3.3 feet) from other groups, meaning a significant drop-off in capacity.
“I’m anxious,” said Emily Wylie, the manager of Milk House. “It’s like going into the unknown. We don’t know how busy it’s going to be and we’re very weather dependent now, just being outside.”
Those brave enough to shake off the drizzle, and the shackles of lockdown relished the return of a weekend pint or glass of wine after months of being shut out.
“The pubs reopening is a win-win situation because we can do our bit and support small businesses all while downing a Guinness or two,” Penny Hackett, a secondary-school teacher from Wolverhampton in the West Midlands, said in the Railway Tavern, where more than 20 customers were waiting at 7 a.m.
Laurie Lee
Around 70 miles south of the Railway Tavern, in rural Gloucestershire, staff at the Woolpack Inn in Slad prepared to open their doors for the first time since March. During the lockdown, the pub -- famed for its association with poet Laurie Lee -- turned into a shop selling local produce.
The pub has just three tables inside and 10 outside. Customers are only allowed to stay for two hours, and there’s a maximum of six per table from two households. The team have taken 160 reservations for Saturday in the restaurant between noon and 10 p.m.
“The big worry is jobs,” said general manager Harry Wynne-Morgan. “Pubs are not going to take their whole teams back on, and furlough is ending soon. That’s my real fear is me having to let people go -- I’ve got to make a decision by the end of the month.”
For Benjamin Iles, landlord of the Popcorn bar and Marlborough Arms pub in the walled city of Chester in northwest England, one challenge has been motivating staff after so much time off work.
Due to the cap on furloughed workers’ wages, Iles has spent 85,000 pounds of his own wedding fund trying to keep staff afloat. “We’ve had a very difficult time with the furloughed money,” he said. “The system doesn’t work for us.”
Undeterred though, Iles opened Popcorn on Saturday and has already taken 1,000 reservations for the coming week. “There are many other pubs that won’t be able to open yet, which means we’re going to be even busier for a while because other venues aren’t there for demand,” he said.
The combination of billions of pounds in government support for furloughed workers, coupled with a drop in spending during the lockdown has boosted savings and some Britons are ready to start spending.
“I’ve saved a fortune over lockdown, about a grand,” said Keith Borough, a dance-floor technician. “I could buy a car.”
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With assistance from Bloomberg