Greene King shuts dozens of pubs and cuts 800 jobs
79 of its sites are shut for the time being, with 26 closing for good
800 jobs are going to be lost at Greene King as they announce the closure of dozens of pubs after being hit by tighter restrictions in the face of the pandemic.
79 of its sites are shut for the time being, with around one third of these closures expected to be permanent.
There’s no word yet on which 26 sites will remain closed for good, although we know 11 of the Loch Fyne restaurant chain will be part of the 79 sites shut for now.
Greene King is one of the UK’s biggest hospitality firms, with 3,100 pubs, restaurants and hotels across the UK.
Are the Greene King closures due to the Covid-19 pandemic?
Essentially yes, the company are blaming the tighter restrictions put in place by the government, such as the 10pm curfew, and the end of the furlough scheme.
The company have called on the Government to provide urgent support for the hospitality sector while tightened restrictions remain in place.
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.”
Curfew affecting pubs, restaurants and bars
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 sector.
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.