Jodie Kidd 'fighting to reopen' West Sussex pub following pandemic losses
It's as a new report warns firms in the night-time economy face 'extinction'
Supermodel turned publican Jodie Kidd has warned the future of her West Sussex pub is in serious doubt due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Jodie, who owns the Half Moon Inn in Kirdford, near Billingshurst, has been unable to run her business for much of the year due to the restrictions placed on opening during England's three lockdowns.
It comes as a cross-party group of MPs warns that nightclubs, bars and music venues face "extinction" unless urgent government action is taken.
The report by the All-Party Parliamentary Group for the Night Time Economy has found that 85% of people working in the industry are thinking of leaving.
And in total, nightclubs, bars, pubs and music venues, plus their suppliers, have made more than a third of their workforce redundant.
Speaking to Sky News' Mark Austin on Wednesday (January 18th), Jodie said the events of the last year had made it 'incredibly tough' to keep the inn open.
"We're just getting to a point where we're fighting tooth and nail to reopen, it's getting very scary.
"Before the pandemic, we were losing three pubs a day just on really high taxes, because the margins were so small, they're saying that during the pandemic we could have lost up to five pubs a day, which is such a sad statistic.
"I bought my pub about four years ago and a lot of love, sweat and tears have gone into it so we're desperate to keep it open, we're desperate not to be one of those sad statistics'.
Jodie has joined the Long Live The Local campaign in calling on Chancellor Rishi Sunak to lower beer duty in his upcoming budget on March 3rd, as a way of helping pubs affected by the pandemic.
Research by the campaign found that 87 million pints were poured down the drain in 2020, costing pubs and brewers £331 million.
Pub beer sales slumped by 56% during that time due to restrictions and lockdowns, costing landlords a further £7.8 billion.
Jodie said:
“Throughout the last year, the pub industry has had to make huge financial sacrifices.
"Landlords like me are desperate to be open and welcome back our locals at the right time, but the thought of having tax increases to cope with on top of all this is unbearable.
“A cut in beer duty will help pubs, which are the backbone of local communities up and down the country. Not only do they provide livelihoods, but also a social and cultural hub that so many of us are deeply missing at the moment.”
Jeff Smith MP, chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for the Night Time Economy , said the industry is "on its knees" and warned that if businesses go under, city and town centres will become ghost towns:
"We need some more support. Some grants, a business rates relief extension and furlough extension and the things that are going to keep these venues going until they are able to open fully.
"But we also need a clear roadmap for when they are going to be able to open fully."