Lockdown ends and new tiers apply today

The Government won its vote on the new system of coronavirus rules last night, meaning the rules came into force at one minute past midnight today.

Hospitality stands to lost £8bn of revenue this month and bear £0.3bn of closure costs and restricted trading, UKHospitality has estimated.

Some 36,823 pubs will be under the two strictest tier restrictions when national lockdown measures are lifted, which works out to 98% of all pubs in England (37,616 as of September), data from real estate advisor Altus Group has found.

Operating rules

For the 729 pubs in the three areas (Cornwall, Isle of Wight and Isle of Scilly) under tier one rules, this means they can open with Covid-secure guidance in place, offering table service with the ‘rule of six’ in place indoors and outdoors and the 11pm curfew (10pm last orders).

For pubs in tier two, they can only operate “as a restaurant” and serve alcohol as part of a “substantial meal”.

The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) said there was no prescribed limit for how long a meal should take but it expects diners to act in a sensible way to reduce the spread of coronavirus and leave once they have finished their meal.

Indoor mixing is banned with only those from the same household allowed to visit indoors and the ‘rule of six’ applying outside.

Again, the 11pm curfew with a 10pm last orders call must remain in place.

Pubs in numbers

These include London, Liverpool, Kent, Sussex, Dorset, Devon, Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex, Cumbria and York.

Tier three means pubs must close, operating a takeaway service only – as in national lockdowns.

The areas that will be placed into tier three includes Greater Manchester, Bristol, Birmingham, Hull, Lancashire, Newcastle, Wolverhampton, Kent and Leeds.

Analysis from real estate adviser Altus Group found there will be 16,010 pubs under tier three restrictions and 20,813 in tier two.