Newton pub boss welcomes new social distancing rule

RELAXED social distancing will help pubs and restaurants “enormously” but other strict measures could prove damaging, a Newton pub boss has warned.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced this afternoon that pubs, restaurants, and hotels would be allowed to reopen from July 4, as the UK winds down from lockdown.

Speaking in the House of Commons, Mr Johnson also announced a reduction in the two metre social distancing rule, to “one metre plus”, due to a fall in the prevalence of coronavirus across the UK.

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Terence Southward, one of the owners of The Kirkfield hotel in Newton-le-Willows, welcomed the change.

However, he fears other measures pubs and restaurants may need to put in place will prove too costly for businesses that have already taken a massive hit in recent months.

Terence said: “What frightens me is all these stickers around the floor, the screens around your tills, the face masks.

“With face masks, if you touch it, you go for a cigarette, you have to put another one on. We haven’t got that kind of money.

“If that’s an enforcement – we’re in trouble.”

The Kirkfield in Newton-le-Willows

The Prime Minister said the government will produce ‘COVID-secure’ guidelines for every sector being allowed to reopen.

Until then, it is not entirely clear what businesses will need to put in place before they can open on July 4.

One possibility is the requirement for punters to wear face mask or coverings, but Terence believes this will be unenforceable.

“There’s no way we can enforce guests to come in with face masks,” he said.

“I know some of my regulars, they’re not going to wear one.

“That’s the worry.”

One measure that was announced today was the requirement for pubs to register the details of all its customers on arrival, in order to support the government’s Test and Trace programme.

Terence said The Kirkfield has already taken various steps off its own back in preparation for the reopening, such as disposable menus, a coronavirus health check app for staff and a public area cleaner.

But this has all come at an additional cost at a time when the business is missing out on hundreds of thousands of pounds in lost sales.

Over the past three months, Terence estimates the business has lost around £300,000 in sales and predicts that it will lose another £200,000 in the first three months of reopening.

Currently, Terence said the plan is to bring back the bulk of its staff from July 4, with around 20 per cent remaining furloughed.

He said they will decide at the end of July whether it will need to make any staff redundancies, as the furlough scheme winds down.

Terence said: “That’s the danger, these people will lose their jobs.

“We will make the decision that we can’t bring everyone back, stage one.

“They’ll stay furloughed, but if it carries on we’re going to have to lose people because we can’t afford them.”

Terence admitted the business was in a “bit of a mess” following the closure in March, with a coronavirus ‘Bounce Back Loan’ providing a lifeline in April.

One area where the business has lost out on, as well as other large pubs and restaurants in St Helens, is small business rate relief, due to the property having a rateable value above £51,000.

“You do feel a little bit aggrieved,” Terence said.

“We’ve invested all this money in the local community, we’ve created jobs. This building was sat derelict for three years.

“We’ve spent all this money and you’re not going to support us?

“It sticks in your throat a bit.”

Terence Southward, one of the owners of The Kirkfield hotel

This issue is something that has affected several other pubs and restaurants in St Helens.

Newton Labour councillor Seve Gomez-Aspron, said the rateable value cap of £51,000 leaves big pubs “high and dry” with no support.

He said action needs to be taken to support these pubs to ensure they are able to survive the damage caused by the lockdown.

Cllr Gomez-Aspron said: “We need to do all we can to support those larger, independent businesses who have invested in our high streets and our community.

“So far, the grant assistance from government has been capped at a rateable value of £51,000, which leaves these big pubs high and dry with no support.

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“Action needs to be taken to support pubs such as the The Kirkfield, The Wargrave and The Griffin in Newton-le-Willows, The Eccleston Arms, The Griffin Inn, The Stanley Arms, The Bird in t’hand and Ruskin Leisure in St Helens, and others to ensure they can survive lockdown and that they’re still there at the end.

“The last thing we need is key buildings, that people have invested in, falling empty because the government didn’t support them.”