The longer we wait, the less ready we will be

As night-time economy adviser for Greater Manchester, I speak to bars, pubs and clubs on a daily basis and one thing I do know is how long it takes to restock, clean and get ready for an opening. And that’s just on the weekend.  

Throw in a three-month forced closure and a global pandemic with strict sanitation and social distancing restrictions and it will take at least three weeks to get ready. 

While I was pleased when the 4 July​ date was finally given to the industry, I’ve watched with concern the lack of clarity and late notice given to other sectors such as dentistry and education on the measures they have needed to implement before opening their doors. With only a day’s notice for some, the announcements by the Government are simply coming too late to enable businesses to prepare and open with confidence and reassurance. 

As a result, we’ve seen some unable to open on their ‘set days’, losing money simply because they weren’t aware of the measures needed or didn’t feel comfortable.

Many operators in our pub and bar sector will have already started to guess and implement their own processes to get ready. We know from looking at international reopenings​ what we can expect to be told to install in terms of screens, floor stickers and capacity limits, and we will luckily be able to monitor and learn from how the retail sector handles itself come Monday (15 June).

But while discussions about whether to change the two-metre distancing policy continue​, I am also concerned operators could be spending hundreds of pounds on new layouts and capacity measures, that may, come 4 July, be wrong.  

I know dozens of bars who are at risk of going under as a result of rent, rates and overdue supplier payments and we, in Greater Manchester, have been pleased to help many through our United We Stream solidarity fund​. 

But to now be wasting money on measures that may not be needed is what frustrates me most and is something that can be solved easily with more clarity and guidance from No.10. 

I hope, as has been rumoured, that we receive clear information over the next few days on when, how and who can reopen on July 4. Hospitality is the fifth biggest sector in the UK and deserves to be treated as such. 

But we are now getting into late territory in terms of being told the basics, and the longer we wait, the more likely it is that we won’t be ready when the doors can finally be flung open. 

For an industry that was left dumbfounded by the sudden announcement of closure in March, I worry we will once more, find ourselves at an unwanted surprise party.