Government set to give pubs and restaurants more money: Pubs and restaurants affected by new coronavirus restrictions will be given extra cash to help get them through Christmas, The Daily Telegraph has reported. Prime Minister Boris Johnson is set to announce the move as he tries to see off a growing Tory rebellion. The newspaper stated: “The Prime Minister has decided the potential closure of tens of thousands of premises is an unacceptable price to pay for a new system that places 99% of England under the toughest tier two or three restrictions from Wednesday. A government source said: “There are already grants of £2,000 and £3,000 for businesses in tiers two and three, but we recognise that we need to do more.” The new tiers system, which has been described as a death knell for thousands of pubs and restaurants, requires all premises in tier three to offer only takeaway service, while those in tier two can only serve alcohol with ‘substantial meals’ – restrictions which will apply to 99% of the country.” A senior government source told the newspaper: “We understand the fact that the hospitality industry has been particularly hard-hit during the pandemic. The Christmas period is a time of year when establishments would expect to be particularly busy so we are looking at how we can support them over the festive period.” The Prime Minister said in a newspaper article on Sunday he ‘grieves’ for the pub trade due to the effect of the restrictions he has imposed. And in a letter to MPs, Johnson admitted pubs and restaurants – which fear mass closures under the tier two and three measures by Christmas – were losing out because “there are only a limited number of settings where you can bear down on transmission” if schools and workplaces were to remain open. Details of the extra support are expected to be announced this week, possibly before the crucial Parliamentary vote. Chancellor Rishi Sunak is understood to have signed up to the plan, which is likely to be funded by extra borrowing in the short term. Meanwhile, the hospitality industry is considering legal action over ‘flawed and discriminatory’ closures of pubs and restaurants after it emerged government scientists found virus does not spread in well-ventilated spaces. Chief executive of UK Hospitality Kate Nicholls said the evidence showed the government had treated pubs, restaurants and hotels inconsistently – and needed to rethink its approach. She told The Telegraph: “Depending on the outcome of that, we will then consider our option in terms of the legal next steps. All the way through, we have had arbitrary and discriminatory decisions being made. It’s quite clear that Boris Johnson has singled out hospitality to keep other sectors open. If it’s going to be such an arbitrary and discriminatory decision, we need robust evidence to justify it or compensatory support. As far as we can see, we have had neither.”

Tim Martin – the government has closed pubs by stealth: JD Wetherspoon chairman Tim Martin has written to all MPs, alleging poor decision-making by the government in its covid-19 policies. The letter encloses an online edition of Wetherspoon News with articles by a range of commentators, querying government policies. He said: “It is a fallacy that pubs will reopen on Wednesday 2 December. The government has effectively closed all pubs in England, by stealth – possibly for the first time in history. A pub licence, unlike a restaurant licence, allows you to sell beer, wine and spirits ‘for consumption on the premises’, without a table meal – and this is now prohibited. The reality is that pubs in tier three will be physically shut from 2 December and pubs in tier two, if they open at all, will be trading as restaurants, not pubs. There are only a tiny number of pubs in tier one – and in those you can’t even order at the bar. I decided to write to all MPs on Friday, because the government is making reckless decisions, using emergency powers, and MPs only have an occasional opportunity to intervene – there will be a vote in Parliament on Tuesday. There is overwhelming scientific evidence that lockdowns and quasi-lockdowns can be counterproductive, as the World Health Organisation has recently emphasised. The government has spent around £350 billion on lockdowns so far – around three times what is spent annually on the health service. That expenditure will continue at about £6 billion a week for the indefinite future. I am hopeful that MPs will see that the government is embarking on economically ruinous policies, with no health benefits. Pubs have invested tens of millions of pound to make them safe, in accordance with regulations devised by the government, local authorities and health officials. The test and trace results show that there has been very little transfer of the virus in pubs and restaurants.”

Osmond – The PM “needs to get out and meet some of the people whose lives he is destroying”: Serial sector investor Hugh Osmond has said that the prime minister Boris Johnson “needs to get out and meet some of the people whose lives he is destroying”. Talking to Sky yesterday, Osmond, who co-founded Punch Taverns, said that the prime minister’s tier policy, which begins this week, would permanently damage hospitality and retail businesses, the biggest employers of young people. He said: “If he destroys all those jobs and businesses, he will not achieve his levelling up. There will be extensive misery, more health problems, more suicides, more deaths and a much worse economy than he could ever imagine. I think sometimes that these politicians live in another world, they live in something of an ivory tower. People in hospitality are seeing their businesses shut down and people being put out of work all across the country. Boris needs to get out there and meet some of the people and see how his measures are destroying those lives, and balance that against the very limited good he is seeing. Some of these businesses will fail if the restrictions continue, they will not reopen, possibly ever. All this talk of levelling up or down, this industry, the hospitality industry and the retail industry, which are the biggest employers of young people, if he destroys all those jobs and businesses, he will not achieve his levelling up, there will be extensive misery, there will be more health problems, more suicides, more deaths and a much worse economy, than he could ever imagine.” Osmond said young people were being hit particularly hard by the restrictions, yet were at the least risk of illness. He said: “The average age of people we employ is early twenties and most of our customers, and that’s also true of retail.”

Pizza Hut Delivery eyes expansion after double digit like-for-like sales growth: Pizza Hut Delivery is to hire 2,500 staff in a recruitment drive after its plans for rapid expansion were boosted by surging demand for takeaways during the pandemic. The delivery arm of the fast food giant has said it is currently recruiting for the roles and has plans to create around 2,000 additional jobs over the next three years as part of significant growth plans. Neil Manhas, general manager of Pizza Hut Delivery, told the PA news agency that the business is looking to expand its footprint by 125 more locations over the three-year period. “We were already on this strong growth trajectory but clearly the pandemic has accelerated the jump in demand,” he said. “Last year, we invested into our platform and that has made a huge difference. At the start of the year we were performing really well and it jumped up another gear when the lockdown started. It was a very fortunate challenge to have and we adapted quickly but we’ve seen a growth in demand that we are still reacting to. That’s why we are continuing to grow our team quickly.” The group said it reported double digit growth in like-for-like sales in the third quarter, compared to the same period last year, as it delivered sales of £206.1 million from the start of the year to October.

Escape Hunt unveils re-opening plan: Escape room operator Escape Hunt will re-open sites in Basingstoke, Liverpool, Norwich, Reading and Oxford on 2 December. The company stated: “In addition, the board is delighted to announce the formal opening of its newest site in Cheltenham. The fit out was successfully completed on time and within budget during November and will officially open its doors on 2 December. Cheltenham is the 12th owner-operated site in the UK, and 13th in the portfolio, inclusive of Dubai which re-opened on 20 October 2020 and continues to trade in line with expectations. Work on the fit-out in Watford, which will be the 14th owner-operated site, continues in line with plans. Sites in Birmingham, Birmingham Resorts World, Bristol, Leeds and Manchester are in areas currently designated tier three and will remain closed pending changes to their respective local tier classifications. The site in Edinburgh, which is not subject to the tier system and was not previously forced to close is subject to revised rules in Scotland for which definitive guidance is not yet available. As set out in its announcement on 4 November 2020, the company shifted focus to its digital and remote play games during the lockdown and it is pleased to report strong progress. The business has seen a significant increase in the level of enquiries and bookings which have been helped by corporates seeking seasonal activities for their staff. The board remains optimistic for the prospects for these digital and remote play games, not only in the run-up to Christmas, but also as a permanent feature of our portfolio.” Richard Harpham, Escape Hunt’s chief executive, said: “We are pleased that much of our UK estate will be open from 2 December 2020 and are very excited to be opening our newest site at the Brewery Quarter in Cheltenham. The performances of both our recent openings in Norwich and Basingstoke give us cause for optimism for Cheltenham. Whilst the restrictions imposed by the tiered system mean life is not able to return to normal, the strong performance during the schools’ half-term week in October, during which a number of sites were subject to the tier two or tier three restrictions in place at the time, provides a positive indication for prospects over the Christmas and New Year period. This will be further supported by the progress we have made with our digital and remote play propositions and we approach the future with cautious optimism.”