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JD Wetherspoon revealed today it had registered a heavy drop in sales and a £52.8million pre-tax loss in its last six-month period as pub chains were devastated by the coronavirus pandemic.
Revenue at the Watford-based company dropped by nearly 54 per cent to £431million in the half year to the end of January, even as pubs were allowed to reopen, albeit under restrictions, for part of that time.
Government plans means pubs with outdoor serving areas – including 394 Wetherspoon sites – will be allowed to reopen on April 12. This will progress to table-only service indoors on May 17, and a full reopening on June 21.
The chain has released photographs of ten of its socially-distanced beer gardens across England in advance of them opening next month, including pubs in London, Sheffield, Leeds, Windsor and King’s Lynn.
The pubs will be open from 9am to 9pm from Sunday to Thursday, and 9am to 10pm on Friday and Saturday, although some have restrictions on closing times and in those cases will close earlier.
The John Russell Fox in Andover, Hampshire, will be among the 394 Wetherspoon pubs to reopen beer gardens on April 12
The Royal Enfield in Redditch, Worcestershire, is also among the pubs that has a beer garden and can therefore reopen
The Angel Vaults Inn pub in Hitchin, Hertfordshire, has an outdoor seating area and can therefore reopen on April 12
The Three Hulats in Chapel Allerton, Leeds, has an outdoor seating area that will reopen for customers next month
The Goldengrove pub in Stratford, East London, has an outdoor seating area that will be back in use from April 12
The locations are set to offer a slightly reduced menu compared to normal, to include breakfast, burgers, pizza, deli deals and British classics such as fish and chips. Food will be available from 9am to 8pm seven days a week.
Customers will be able to order and pay through the Wetherspoon app, but staff will also be able to take orders and payment at the table from those who do not have the app. The pubs will not be operating a booking system.
Vaccine passports could soon be piloted in English pubs to check whether they can help speed up the lifting of social restrictions.
A tech company is understood to be in talks with the government to carry out trials in pubs in Chester as soon as next month. Customers would have to show an app to prove they had had a vaccine or a negative Covid test before being allowed to have a drink indoors.
The firm, Match Fit Pass, said it has discussed the idea with officials in government and is waiting for the green light to be able to carry out the pilot from April 12.
Permission is needed because, according to Boris Johnson’s roadmap, only outdoor opening for pubs is allowed on that date. Football clubs and music venues are also said to be interested in taking part in the trials, the company said.
Michael Gove, the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, is heading up an official review into how vaccine passports could help venues such as pubs to scrap social distancing requirements more quickly.
His review will also consider potential ethical problems such as whether it is right to bar people from pubs if they have decided against having the vaccine.
Michael Dodd, the chief executive of Match Fit Pass, said: ‘We’ve already got six venues in Chester lined up and eager to beta test the Match Fit Pass solution. We’re just waiting on the green light from local authorities and the government and then we can start to roll this out nationally and internationally and get our global economy moving again.’
To use the vaccine passport, customers will have to upload a photograph of their face and their passport or driving licence. This information will be encrypted within a biometrically secure QR code.
Information on Covid-19 testing and vaccination can then be shared on the app. The venue will scan the code and take a photo of the customer’s face. If this matches the information in the QR code – and it shows the person has had a jab or a negative test – they will be permitted entry to the venue.
Visitors will be able to enter the pub to gain access to the outside area and also to use the toilet. Test and trace systems will be in operation and hand sanitisers will be available.
It comes as the firm swung to a £52.8million pre-tax loss, from a £51.6million profit a year earlier. Wetherspoon pubs, along with their rivals, were allowed to reopen again after months of lockdown last summer.
It meant that from July 2020, around 50million customer visits were clocked in across the pub giant’s pubs. The firm said it had notched up charges of £7.5million as it spent to ensure its pubs were safer, among other things.
Screens were set up between tables to improve social distancing during the months that the pubs were open.
Yet a second national lockdown in November, and a reopening under tiered systems in December, only for doors to once again be slammed shut at the start of January, caused another painful period for the hospitality sector.
To help get through the crisis, Wetherspoon has tapped into the Government’s furlough scheme, claiming more than £97million in the half year.
It also took a loan from the Coronavirus Large Business Interruption Loan Scheme in August last year, and has agreed a second CBILS loan of nearly £52million this month, Wetherspoon said.
Shares in the business dropped 1.6 per cent this morning as markets opened, and despite recovering since lows a year ago, they are still around 13 per cent lower than before the Covid-19 sell-off that hit markets in February 2020.
Its chairman Tim Martin, who has criticised the Government’s handling of the pandemic, said the future of the industry depended on a ‘consistent set of sensible policies’ and the ending of lockdowns and tier systems.
The company, which posted its first annual loss since 1984 in fiscal year 2020, has had to cut hundreds of jobs and ask investors for money twice, to get through the pandemic.
Mr Martin said the curbs, including curfews, ‘substantial meals’ with drinks, and masks for bathroom visits, had ‘no real basis in common sense or science’, reiterating his stance that the Government be more considerate towards the industry.
On St Patrick’s Day alone, pubs lost out on 14 million sales of pints, while £8.2billion in trade value was wiped out from the sector just in beer sales since the first round of lockdowns last year, the British Beer and Pub Association estimated this week.
Susannah Streeter, senior investment and markets analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: ‘The pandemic has taken a sledgehammer to Wetherspoon’s business model, which is focused on pulling in high volumes of punters while keeping prices low.
The Rawson Spring in Hillsborough, Sheffield, will reopen its outdoor seating area for customers from April 12
The Royal Victoria Pavilion in Ramsgate, Kent, which is Britain’s biggest pub, has a large outdoor area overlooking the beach
The King and Castle in Windsor, Berkshire, which overlooks Windsor Castle, will also open its outdoor area next month
The Globe Hotel in King’s Lynn, Norfolk, has a large outdoor space which will reopen for customers on April 12
The Admiral Collingwood in the North Devon seaside resort of Ilfracombe will also reopen its beer garden next month
‘The stop start nature of the business during the crisis has seen a yo-yo effect to some extent, but overall the picture was of a sharp decline.
‘Like for like sales plunged by 53.9 per cent as lockdowns and strict social distancing measures turned packed venues into empty caverns. Given the pre-tax loss of £61.4million, it comes as no surprise the interim dividend has been scrapped.’
She added: ‘Indoor drinking and eating won’t be able to resume until May 17 at the earliest, and the company is even questioning the certainty of that timeline. It is speculating that despite the successful roll out of vaccines, there could be more knee jerk reactions in government policy to the latest news updates.
‘The extension of the VAT cut to 5 per cent will provide some short term relief and the company says if it’s made permanent, it would be able to keep lower prices indefinitely which should help lure customers back through the doors when they finally do open.’
This graph shows how the number of Wetherspoon pubs open in Britain since last July has varied between zero and 860
The past year has been devastating for the pub industry, with Wetherspoon suffering big falls in the likes of sales and turnover
Wetherspoon’s business model has changed over the past 20 years, now relying significantly more on food than it used to
Wetherpoon’s chairman Tim Martin (above) said the future of the industry depended on a ‘consistent set of sensible policies’
Vaccine passports could soon be piloted in English pubs to check whether they can help speed up the lifting of social restrictions.
A tech company is understood to be in talks with the government to carry out trials in pubs in Chester as soon as next month.
Customers would have to show an app to prove they had had a vaccine or a negative Covid test before being allowed to have a drink indoors.
The firm, Match Fit Pass, said it has discussed the idea with officials in government and is waiting for the green light to be able to carry out the pilot from April 12.
The Wetherspoon pubs below will be opening their outdoor areas on April 12, 2021:
Bedfordshire
The Pilgrim’s Progress, Bedford
The Crown Hotel, Biggleswade
The Gary Cooper, Dunstable
The Swan Hotel, Leighton Buzzard
The White House, Luton
Berkshire
The Old Manor, Bracknell
The Bear, Maidenhead
The Hatchet Inn, Newbury
The Back of Beyond, Reading
The King and Castle, Windsor
Bristol
St Georges Hall, Bristol
The Jolly Sailor, Bristol
The Kingswood Colliers, Bristol
The Knights Templar, Bristol
The Staple Hill Oak, Bristol
V-Shed, Bristol
Buckinghamshire
The White Hart, Aylesbury
Captain Ridley’s Shooting Party, Milton Keynes
The Moon Under Water, Milton Keynes
Cambridgeshire
The Regal, Cambridge
The Hippodrome, March
Sandford House, Huntingdon
The College Arms, Peterborough
The Draper’s Arms, Peterborough
The George Hotel, Peterborough
Cheshire
The Bull and Stirrup Hotel, Chester
The Counting House, Congleton
The Wheatsheaf, Ellesmere Port
The Society Rooms, Macclesfield
The Penny Black, Northwich
The Kingfisher, Poynton
The Society Rooms, Stalybridge
The Calverts Court, Stockport
The Wilfred Wood, Stockport
The Looking Glass, Warrington
The Queens Arms, Winsford
Cornwall
The Coinage Hall, Helston
The King Doniert, Liskeard
The Green Parrot, Perranporth
The Rann Wartha, St Austell
County Durham
The Stanley Jefferson, Bishop Auckland
The Wicket Gate, Chester-le-Street
County Durham continued
The Company Row, Consett
The Bishops’ Mill, Durham
The Ward Jackson, Hartlepool
The Grand Electric Hall, Spennymoor
Cumbria
The Furness Railway, Barrow-in-Furness
The William Rufus, Carlisle
Woodrow Wilson, Carlisle
The Chief Justice of the Common Pleas, Keswick
The Dog Beck, Penrith
The Miles Thompson, Kendal
Derbyshire
Waggon and Horses, Alfreton
The Wye Bridge House, Buxton
The Pillar of Rock, Chesterfield
The Portland Hotel, Chesterfield
The Standing Order, Derby
Devon
The Panniers, Barnstaple
George’s Meeting House, Exeter
The Chevalier Inn, Exeter
The Imperial, Exeter
The Sawyer’s Arms, Exeter
The Powder Monkey, Exmouth
The Star Inn, Honiton
The Admiral Collingwood, Ilfracombe
The White Hart Hotel, Okehampton
The Talk of the Town, Paignton
The Britannia Inn, Plymouth
The Union Rooms, Plymouth
The Stannary Court, Plympton
The Jolie Brise, Teignmouth
The White Ball Inn, Tiverton
Dorset
The Moon in the Square, Bournemouth
The Royal Oak, Dorchester
The Blackwater Stream, Poole
The Lord Wimborne, Poole
The Quay, Poole
East Riding of Yorkshire
The Cross Keys, Beverley
The Prior John, Bridlington
City and County, Goole
The Three John Scotts, Kingston Upon Hull
The Admiral of the Humber, Kingston Upon Hull
East Sussex
The West Quay, Brighton
The Picture Playhouse, Bexhill-on-Sea
The Crowborough Cross, Crowborough
The George Hotel, Hailsham
Cornfield Garage, Eastbourne
Essex
The Blue Boar, Billericay
The William Aylmer, Harlow
The Bottle Kiln, Harwich
The Elms, Leigh-on-Sea
The Temeraire, Saffron Walden
Parsons’ Barn, Shoeburyness
The Battesford Court, Witham
Gloucestershire
The Moon Under Water, Cheltenham
The Lord High Constable of England, Gloucester
The Regal, Gloucester
The Royal Hop Pole, Tewkesbury
Greater Manchester
The Gateway, East Didsbury
The Bull’s Head Hotel, Manchester
The Robert Shaw, Westhoughton
The Brocket Arms, Wigan
Hampshire
The John Russell Fox, Andover
The Queen Hotel, Aldershot
The Ivy House, Alton
The Angel, Basingstoke
The Wagon Works, Eastleigh
The Crown Inn, Fareham
The Lord Arthur Lee, Fareham
The Prince Arthur, Fleet
The Star, Gosport
The Parchment Makers, Havant
The Six Bells, Lymington
The Red Lion, Petersfield
The Sir Alec Rose, Portsmouth
The Admiral Sir Lucius Curtis, Southampton
The Giddy Bridge, Southampton
The Red Lion, Southampton
The Standing Order, Southampton
The Lord Palmerston, Southsea
The Denmead Queen, Waterlooville
Herefordshire
The Kings Fee, Hereford
The Duke’s Head, Leominster
Hertfordshire
The Crown, Berkhamsted
The Port Jackson, Bishop’s Stortford
Harpsfield Hall, Hatfield
The Six Templars, Hertford
The Angel Vaults Inn, Hitchin
The Star, Hoddesdon
The Admiral Byng, Potters Bar
The Manor House, Royston
Waterend Barn, St Albans
The Standing Order, Stevenage
The Moon and Cross, Waltham Cross
The Moon Under Water, Watford
Isle of Wight
The Man in the Moon, Newport
Kent
The County Hotel, Ashford
The Thomas Waghorn, Chatham
The Flying Boat, Dartford
The Sir Norman Wisdom, Deal
The Leading Light, Faversham
The Saxon Shore, Herne Bay
The Society Rooms, Maidstone
Royal Victoria Pavilion, Ramsgate
The Golden Lion, Rochester
The Belle and Lion, Sheerness
The Golden Hope, Sittingbourne
The Humphrey Bean, Tonbridge
The Peter Cushing, Whitstable
Lancashire
The Sir Thomas Gerard, Ashton-in-Makerfield
The Ash Tree, Ashton-under-Lyne
The Commercial Hotel, Accrington
The Layton Rakes, Blackpool
The Velvet Coaster, Blackpool
The Boot Inn, Burnley
The Jolly Tars, Cleveleys
The Wallace Hartley, Colne
The Old Chapel, Darwen
The Leyland Lion, Leyland
The Railway Hotel, Lytham St Annes
The Trawl Boat Inn, Lytham St Annes
The Court Leet, Ormskirk
The Poulton Elk, Poulton-le-Fylde
The Twelve Tellers, Preston
The Regal Moon, Rochdale
Leicestershire
The Shoulder of Mutton, Ashby-de-la-Zouch
The Moon & Bell, Loughborough
The Sugar Loaf, Market Harborough
The Kettleby Cross, Melton Mowbray
The White House, Leicester
The High Cross, Leicester
Lincolnshire
The Coliseum Picture Theatre, Cleethorpes
The Sweyn Forkbeard, Gainsborough
The Tollemache Inn, Grantham
The Yarborough Hotel, Grimsby
Ritz, Lincoln
The Joseph Morton, Louth
The Stamford Post, Stamford
London
The Red Lion & Pineapple, Acton
The Railway Bell, Barnet
The Asparagus, Battersea
The Furze Wren, Bexleyheath
The Brockley Barge, Brockley
The Richmal Crompton, Bromley
The Greyhound, Bromley
The Fox on the Hill, Camberwell
The Ice Wharf, Camden
The Eva Hart, Chadwell Heath
The Ledger Building, Docklands
The Moon Under Water, Enfield
The New Fairlop Oak, Fairlop
The Hudson Bay, Forest Gate
The Capitol, Forest Hill
The William Morris, Hammersmith
The Toll Gate, Harringay
The Moon and Sixpence, Hatch End
The Botwell Inn, Hayes
The Great Spoon of Ilford, Ilford
The Half Moon, Mile End
The Mossy Well, Muswell Hill
The Watchman, New Malden
The Moon Under Water, Norbury
The Greenwood Hotel, Northolt
The Harvest Moon, Orpington
The Moon & Stars, Penge
The Sovereign of the Seas, Petts Wood
The Rocket, Putney
The Village Inn, Rayners Lane
The Moon and Stars, Romford
The Surrey Docks, Rotherhithe
J.J. Moon’s, Ruislip Manor
The Sir Julian Huxley, Selsdon
The Barrel Vault, St Pancras
Goldengrove, Stratford
The Moon on the Hill, Sutton
The George, Wanstead
The New Cross Turnpike, Welling
J.J. Moon’s, Wembley
Spouter’s Corner, Wood Green
Manchester
The Sedge Lynn, Chorlton-cum-Hardy
The Eccles Cross, Eccles
Castle in the Air, Manchester
The Bishop Blaize, Stretford
The Tim Bobbin, Urmston
Merseyside
The Brass Balance, Birkenhead
The Barker’s Brewery, Liverpool
The Captain Alexander, Liverpool
The Childwall Fiveways Hotel, Liverpool
The Frank Hornby, Liverpool
The Lifeboat, Liverpool
The Navigator, Liverpool
The Raven, Liverpool
The Master Mariner, New Brighton
The Nine Arches, Newton-le-Willows
The Ferry Boat, Runcorn
The Sir Henry Segrave, Southport
The Willow Grove, Southport
The Dee Hotel, West Kirby
The Premier, Widnes
Norfolk
The Romany Rye, Dereham
The Whalebone, Downham Market
The Limes, Fakenham
The Troll Cart, Great Yarmouth
The William Adams, Great Yarmouth
Globe Hotel, King’s Lynn
The Bell Hotel, Norwich
The Glass House, Norwich
The Queen of Iceni, Norwich
The Whiffler, Norwich
North Lincolnshire
The White Horse, Brigg
The Blue Bell Inn, Scunthorpe
North Yorkshire
The Ironstone Miner, Guisborough
The Winter Gardens, Harrogate
The Swatters Carr, Middlesbrough
The Plimsoll Line, Redcar
The Ralph Fitz Randal, Richmond
The Giant Bellflower, Selby
The Devonshire Inn, Skipton
The Angel Hotel, Whitby
The Postern Gate, York
Northamptonshire
The Samuel Lloyd, Corby
The Saxon Crown, Corby
The Saracens Head Inn, Daventry
The Earl of Dalkeith, Kettering
The Cordwainer, Northampton
The Railway Inn, Rushden
The Red Well, Wellingborough
Northumberland
The Rohan Kanhai, Ashington
The Red Lion, Bedlington
Nottinghamshire
The Last Post, Beeston
The Admiral Sir John Borlase Warren, Nottingham
The Free Man, Nottingham
The Gooseberry Bush, Nottingham
The William Peverel, Nottingham
The Woodthorpe Top, Nottingham
The Dominie Cross, Retford
Oxfordshire
The Penny Black, Bicester
The Swan & Castle, Oxford
The Catherine Wheel, Henley-on-Thames
Rutland
The Captain Noel Newton, Oakham
Shropshire
The Hippodrome, Market Drayton
The Wilfred Owen, Oswestry
The Shrewsbury Hotel, Shrewsbury
The Thomas Botfield, Telford Shopping Centre
Somerset
The Carnival Inn, Bridgwater
The Posset Cup, Bristol
The Reeds Arms, Burnham-on-Sea
The Cerdic, Chard
Palladium Electric, Midsomer Norton
The Duke of Wellington, Minehead
The Glassmaker, Nailsea
The Lantokay, Street
The Perkin Warbeck, Taunton
The Quarter Jack, Wells
Cabot Court Hotel, Weston-super-Mare
South Gloucestershire
Thorn’s Farm, Yate
South Yorkshire
The Joseph Bramah, Barnsley
The Red Lion, Doncaster
The Bluecoat, Rotherham
The Queens Hotel, Rotherham
Sheffield Water Works Company, Sheffield
The Benjamin Huntsman, Sheffield
The Francis Newton, Sheffield
The Rawson Spring, Sheffield,
The Sheaf Island, Sheffield
The Steel Foundry, Sheffield
The Wagon & Horses, Sheffield
The Church House, Wath-upon-Dearne
The Horseshoe, Wombwell
Staffordshire
The Bradley Green, Biddulph
The Lord Burton, Burton upon Trent
The Wheatsheaf, Cheadle
The Hedgeford Lodge, Hednesford
The Green Dragon, Leek
The Arnold Machin, Newcastle-under-Lyme
The Plaza, Rugeley
The Butler’s Bell, Stafford
The Picture House, Stafford
The Bole Bridge, Tamworth
Stockton-on-Tees
The Half Moon Inn, Billingham
Suffolk
The Kings Head Hotel, Beccles
The Cricketers, Ipswich
The Joseph Conrad, Lowestoft
The Golden Lion, Newmarket
The Willow Tree, Stowmarket
Grover & Allen, Sudbury
Surrey
The Assembly Rooms, Epsom
The Jack Fairman, Horley
The Oxted Inn, Oxted
The George, Staines-upon-Thames
Tyne and Wear
The Five Swans, Newcastle upon Tyne
The Mile Castle, Newcastle upon Tyne
The Quayside, Newcastle upon Tyne
The Wouldhave, South Shields
The Cooper Rose, Sunderland
The Ritz, Wallsend
The Sir William de Wessyngton, Washington
The Harry Clasper, Whickham
The Fire Station, Whitley Bay
Warwickshire
The Golden Bee, Stratford-upon-Avon
The Thomas Lloyd, Warwick
West Midlands
The Avion, Aldridge
The Black Horse, Birmingham
The Dragon Inn, Birmingham
The Figure of Eight, Birmingham
The Bloxwich Showman, Bloxwich
Abraham Darby, Brierley Hill
The Waterfront Inn, Brierley Hill
The Flying Standard, Coventry
The City Arms, Coventry
The Spon Gate, Coventry
The Cross Inn, Kingswinford
The Mare Pool, Mere Green
The Court of Requests, Oldbury
The Britannia, Rowley Regis
The Chequers Inn, Stourbridge
The Pump House, Solihull
The White Swan, Solihull
The Bishop Vesey, Sutton Coldfield
The Bottle of Sack, Sutton Coldfield
St. Matthew’s Hall, Walsall
The Bellwether, Wednesbury
The Royal Tiger, Wednesfield
West Sussex
The Hatter’s Inn, Bognor Regis
The Lynd Cross, Horsham
West Yorkshire
The Union Rooms, Batley
The Turls Green, Bradford
The Richard Oastler, Brighouse
The Glass Blower, Castleford
The Winter Seam, Castleford
The Obediah Brooke, Cleckheaton
The Livery Rooms, Keighley
The Briggate, Leeds
The Crossed Shuttle, Leeds
The Cuthbert Brodrick, Leeds
The Old Unicorn, Leeds
The Picture House, Leeds
The Three Hulats, Leeds
The Bowling Green, Otley
The Blue Bell, Pontefract
The Commercial Inn, Sowerby Bridge
The White Hart, Todmorden
The Six Chimneys, Wakefield
Wiltshire
The Bell, Amesbury
The Bridge House, Chippenham
The Bear, Melksham
The King’s Head Inn, Salisbury
The Dockle Farmhouse, Swindon
The Sir Daniel Arms, Swindon
The Bath Arms, Warminster
Worcestershire
George Hotel, Bewdley
Golden Cross Hotel, Bromsgrove
The Old Swanne Inne, Evesham
The Foley Arms Hotel, Great Malvern
The Royal Enfield, Redditch
The Crown, Worcester
The people who suffer are the waiters/bartenders/c…
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