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Greene King cuts 800 jobs and shuts dozens of pubs as coronavirus restrictions hammer trade
Greene King is cutting 800 jobs and shutting more than 25 pubs after tighter coronavirus restrictions hit trade.
The company said it would close 79 UK venues temporarily, with around a third of the closures expected to be permanent. It said it hoped that the other venues would reopen in the future.
Making the announcement, the chain called on the Government to provide urgent support for the hospitality sector after tighter measures, including the recent 10pm curfew , were bought in to curb the spread of Covid-19.
The company, which was bought by a Hong-Kong real estate giant last year, is one of the UK’s biggest hospitality firms, with 3,100 pubs, restaurants and hotels across.
A spokeswoman for Greene King said: “The continued tightening of the trading restrictions for pubs, which may last another six months, along with the changes to Government support was always going to make it a challenge to reopen some of our pubs.
“Therefore, we have made the difficult decision not to reopen 79 sites, including the 11 Loch Fyne restaurants we announced last week.
“Around one-third will be closed permanently and we hope to be able to reopen the others in the future.
“We are working hard with our teams to try and find them a role in another of our pubs wherever possible.
“We urgently need the Government to step in and provide tailored support to help the sector get through to the spring and prevent further pub closures and job losses.”
The announcement comes after warnings from pub, restaurant and bar bosses that the curfew and other restrictions will result in swathes of job losses across the secto r.
Last week, the boss of rival Fuller’s said that around a tenth of its almost-5,000 employees could face redundancy without further state support.
The bosses of London-focused groups Young’s and City Pub Group also warned that they might have to axe hundreds of roles when furlough ends later this month.
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