The British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA) has calculated that the new tier system revealed by the prime minister yesterday will cost wet-let pubs £47,000 each for the month of December alone.

Emma McClarkin
Emma McClarkin: ‘It will be utterly heart-breaking if pubs now face ruin with the end of the pandemic in sight’

According to the trade association, if all wet-led pubs in the UK were to be subject to the restrictions in tiers two and three, this would cost the sector £1.5 billion, or £47,000 for each wet-led pub. Some £680 million of this would be from lost beer sales — the equivalent of 180 million pints — meaning the restrictions will also hugely damage Britain’s brewers.

The BBPA says this will destroy thousands of pubs and breweries across the country, forcing them to close for good unless the government provides grant support pubs and brewers urgently need. It has written to the chancellor, Rishi Sunak, empasising this point.

It has urged him to deliver emergency grants to pubs in line with those in the first lockdown, as 90% of pubs placed under the new tier 2 and tier 3 restrictions will operate at a loss, leading to financial ruin without support. The current support grants range from just £1,300 to £3,000 per month — not anywhere near compensating for lost revenue and ongoing fixed costsm say the BBPA.   

In the letter, Emma McClarkin, chief executive of the BBPA, said: “I cannot overstate how serious the situation facing our brewers and pubs is at this stage. It would be utterly heart-breaking if, having survived through the last nine months, pubs now face ruin with the end of the pandemic in sight.”