IF it's true... how will pubs survive this?

[NotKeenOnSwede]

If they remain closed for the entire year how on earth will they not fold altogether? Granted when they do eventually open they'll be rammed with punters (if allowed to be) but I really feel for people who are in this business. If cafes start to open surely they should open pubs too, with restrictions? No more than two people standing at the bar or groups of 3 only etc...

I went to a pub the Saturday before they closed and it was quiet, people were clearly worried. This is before the hysteria campaign so I imagine it will be quieter now, in that pub at least.

Gonna post as someone who works for a large UK brewery and my partner owns a UK late night music venue.

I know a lot of our local pubs/venues can sustain themselves on the grants and furlough payment until June/July, then the shit hits the fan.

Stock isn't the issue as most large breweries have already agreed to compensate people for kegs going out of date, and bottled products have a long shelf life.

The issue is how do you open with social distancing rules?

Take my partners venue. It's a basement late night music venue. We're talking 300-400 19-25 years old in a crowded sweaty room. You cannot socially distance.

He isn't expecting that the bar will survive this.

And a normal pub. Margins and profits are tight as we speak, so to open but only be allowed 25-50% of customers due to social distancing means quickly you've gone out of business.

As for takeways, how do you compete selling your bottled stock with all supermarkets selling alcohol at 50% cheaper?

This will be devastating for the industry. Sorry I'm painting a bleak picture, but I don't see much light at the end of the tunnel for the industry.

We also go to lots of gigs, mainly tribute band type places, but I can't see how that will work with audiences shoulder to shoulder.

I'd be very sad to see those places go under.

I wonder if some of the pubs could do what one not that far from us as done,they've started selling meals onlin and I think most of them have been collected from the pub.

They've even started including they're sunday roasts now as well and seem to be doing really well out of it.

All of the pubs where I live sell food I don't know if it's the same everywhere else?We don't really have any of the old pubs where people just go to drink anymore so if they do sell food finding a way of still being able to sell it could keep some of them going for a bit longer,maybe hopefully even untill were allowed out again.

Where we live is a real foody's haven and it would be such a shame if any of them had to close down not only for all of the poor staff but for the customers and the suppliers as well.

Theres no way pubs can reopen yet-theyd have to limit customers for a start a small place wont be able to do it and how do u stop people going to the bar or mucking about when theyre drunk-so thats added security thy have to fork out for as well

I own a fairly small pub but we're lucky that we own it outright. We would be as well to just stay shut rather than open and say men over 50yo can't come in, that's our entire customer base.

Also our brewer has assured us they will replace any out of date barrels FOC for new ones when the time comes that we can reopen so we are lucky that most of our stock will be fine. Except for the bar snacks which we have donated/have gone towards ruining my diet.

will be very sad hoping th best for you both @holdontoyourbutts

If/when pubs do open I imagine they wont be full like before as some will avoid them to protect themselves. I know there will be those that will still go, but I dont think there will be as many as before lockdown.

I think there will be a need for more pubs. Because the way we behave in pubs will be restricted and subject to social distancing.

No ordering or standing at the bar
A group to sit at their own table
Tables distanced from each other
Service at the table only

If pubs have to make more space for their customers and only allow so many in at a time. Then there will be a need for more pubs

Because there might not be a vaccine for years, or eveb no effective vaccine at all. Then we may have to change the way we socialise.

My local is a family pub, lots of food, lots of kids running about. Very family oriented until the evening. I think sadly they would have to ban kids if they were to open with social distancing.
Most of the turnover is food and families sitting eating together in the garden during the Summer. But you can’t stop kids playing and running around in a garden. I don’t know how the pub will survive.

Flax but pubs will have to be much more expensive then, is that clientele around?

@holdontoyourbutts

A bleak picture, very much so, but as a manager in a venue, I think you're also right unfortunately.
One of our biggest things are weddings. 150-200 people, Fri and sat from April onwards and sometimes 3 or 4 a week in August. Even if open how could we accommodate that and social distancing? The simple answer is we can't.

So it's a choice between postponing for a couple of years until this has run it's course, or vastly reduced numbers - which means refunds for prepaid meals/drinks which although we won't have to buy them in, won't be possible with no income. And less wet sales on the day itself.

You're absolutely right that stock written off is the least of our worries. Breweries will replace out of date stock and because of when this happened a lot of places will have had low stock anyway, as it was the quieter time of the year.

There's so many that won't survive, it's so sad.

Flax but pubs will have to be much more expensive then

Yes a bit more expensive because you will have to be served at the table, but this isnt much different to how it has already been on the continent anyway

It's a novel virus and so we do not yet know how it will behave in the future. There is no guarantee that we will produce an effective vaccine or that it is going away any time soon. The WHO has already said that once infected there is no guarantee that someone has immunity.

It may be that it goes away and everything can get back to normal but then on the other hand it may be that we have to change our behaviour to cope with it in the future

@unworthie - it's horribly sad. On a moral point my partner doesn't know how he can open...he can't have young people come on a Friday night, pick up a virus and pass it onto a vulnerable family member at lunch on a Sunday?

@GabsAlot thankyou, luckily we have other projects on the go so whilst we foresee life looking very different on the other side we should be in an OK position, which we are very grateful for.

Pubs are struggling anyway. Hard to make money when the rent shoots up every 5 min and people drink at home thanks to low supermarket prices.

Warehouse and Oasis went bust a couple of days ago. No idea whether Topshop will drip on, but it's at the painful lingering stage.

Are tenanted landlord's still paying rent's to the breweries? I thought the government would have put a stop to that when they ordered them to close surely how can you pay rent when your income is zilch and they'll have all their other bills and outgoings too!

But you can't stop kids playing together and running around

Yes you can, it's called discipline.

There are quite a few country pubs around here with large gardens so peeps will have to sit outside, a bar person wearing some PPE will come out and serve them putting their beers on a table retiring and then drinker comes to collect at the same time putting their card over the paymet machine.

It can be seen that JB here can organise a piss up in a brewery:)

Whatever happens. People adapt. They find new ways to socialise. Pubs have survived plagues and pandemics before, throughout history. It's one of our oldest traditions to go to the pub. We adapt to new situations and pubs, cafes, restaurants, tavernas are a part of that

Flax “ Yes a bit more expensive because you will have to be served at the table, but this isnt much different to how it has already been on the continent anyway ”

The main pubs here make money from tribute nights, sports etc when they’re packed. If their numbers are limited, either they close or hope clientele can pay more, which round here, we can’t.

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It’s not the pandemic so much as the lockdown and any rules they might have to observe long term that will close them

But, when London transport goes back to normal, I think the pubs have an argument they should be allowed to do the same.

Are tenanted landlord's still paying rent's to the breweries? I thought the government would have put a stop to that when they ordered them to close surely confused how can you pay rent when your income is zilch and they'll have all their other bills and outgoings too!

That is the same for every other business. A friend’s brother is a dentist and had to close - he still has to pay rent. As do shops that have closed. And garden centres (along with staff to try and keep their stock from perishing). And hairdressers. And staff who have been made redundant.

I suspect a LOT of local pubs will close. And many more wetherspoons and similar will pop up in their place. Death of the traditional pub at the moment really..quite sad, though I don't really use them much at all..

But when lockdown lifts a little and pubs reopen - who do you go to the pub with? A group of friends who have been mixing with other people? Much as I love my friends, I wouldn't feel safe sharing a table with them right now not knowing who else they have been mixing with.

And as for going for a wee between pints... try social distancing that one!

The main pubs here make money from tribute nights, sports etc when they’re packed. If their numbers are limited, either they close or hope clientele can pay more, which round here, we can’t.

But how is this different to any other business?

Business, any business, will have to adapt. Find new ways of coping or offering a new or different kind of service.

Why does a tribute night or sports event have to necessarily be "packed" anyway?

We are in a the middle of a pandemic. What is so special about a football match?

The other day I heard some media pundit saying on the news "we need to keep football fans occupied". Why though? What are these fans, children? Move on. Get over it. Your football match or tribute act really isnt that important right now.