A ‘firebreak’ lockdown is to be introduced across Wales from 6pm on Friday, forcing more than 3,000 pubs to shut until 9th November.
Cardiff City Centre. Photograph by joncandy is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0
The Welsh government announced that grants would be available for some pubs, but the British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA) 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 without more support.
Pubs in Wales are 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 will lead many to closing their doors forever unless there is a better package of financial support.
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 £50,000. Additionally, it is calling 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.
BBPA chief executive, Emma McClarkin, said: “We urge the Welsh government to work closely with our sector on this.”
‘More small breweries will be deciding to throw in the towel’
James Calder, chief executive of the Society of Independent Brewers, said: “The mounting speculation over the last week that Wales was about to move into a circuit breaker lockdown has already caused pubs to put a halt on orders from small independent brewers for fear of having beer sitting unsold in their cellars, and the confirmation of a lockdown will now mean no orders on the horizon for small brewers across Wales who survive on sales via pubs.
“When pubs are told to close, the independent breweries that supply them are also effectively forced to mothball their operations, and despite 80% of small brewers’ beer being sold via pubs, they do not receive any support from government when pubs are forced to close.
“Small breweries cannot just turn production on and off like a switch, and this circuit breaker will mean that more small breweries will be deciding to throw in the towel rather than continue through an extremely uncertain time when they have not received the full financial support other sectors have been given.”
