Rob Pitcher, chief executive of Revolution Bars, has labelled government action on drinking establishments and late-night hospitality as “nothing short of scandalous”.
Government rules that alcohol can only be served with food, alongside a 10pm curfew are “illogical, misguided and disproportionate”, said the business as it reported a 27.3% drop in turnover to £110.1m and an operating loss of £27.5m.
“The UK government’s actions towards wet-led bars and late-night hospitality are nothing short of scandalous,” said Pitcher. “It has little evidence to justify the severe restrictions that have been imposed and it is deliberately sacrificing businesses and people’s livelihoods. The recent grants of £1,000 per pub as compensation for being deprived of our most important trading period is derisory and insulting and underlines a complete lack of understanding of the costs associated with businesses of this nature (even when they are shut) or any sympathy for the consequences of their inept decisions.
“The next few months will continue to be challenging and entirely dependent on imposed operating restrictions. Further meaningful government support will be required to help safeguard the industry and avoid further job losses, particularly for young people.”
Chairman Keith Edelman, also hit out at the government’s lack of understanding about the sector.
“While acknowledging that management of the pandemic and balancing the health and economic consequences is far from easy, the way in which the hospitality sector appears to have been sacrificed in order to curb the spread of the virus when all the evidence suggests that the way in which pubs, bars and restaurants have adapted their operations has been very effective, seems very disproportionate and completely misguided,” he said. “As a wet-led business with a significant element of trade being late-night and entertainment-led, our business has suffered disproportionately from the many operating restrictions imposed on it. “
Edelman added: “While furlough support and relief from business rates has been necessary and helpful, Eat Out To Help Out and the VAT reduction were of some limited value to a wet-led predominantly late-night business, and the grants now being made available to cover some of the other overheads are woefully short of the levels necessary to compensate for being sacrificed by the UK government in this way. The UK government has shown a completely inadequate grasp of our situation and, to date, an obdurate unwillingness to do anything about it.”
Pitcher said that the UK government needed to recognise that it must continue to provide support to enable hospitality businesses to repay the debt they have built up as a result of the pandemic. He suggests extending the reduced VAT rate of 5% to all sales of food and drink to at least the end of 2021 and extending business rates relief to the 2021/22 fiscal year.
The group, which utilised a CVA to reduce its portfolio of bars from 74 to 67 and reduce its rent on a further eight bars, said that despite the pandemic’s impact on its business it had “taken all the necessary actions” to ensure it was able to recover quickly once normalised trading conditions resumed.
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