Tiers hit Blind Tiger Inns for more than £1m
7 December 2020
Operators mentally drained, joyless and heartbroken after a week of new tiers
7 December 2020

Under tier three, pubs are only allowed to operate takeaway services, leaving pubs in areas such as Birmingham, Greater Manchester and Kent closed.

Some operators in England are hopeful they will be placed into tier two when Prime Minister Boris Johnson sets out the first review of the tiers on Wednesday 16 December. This would enable them to open as long as they serve a substantial meal with alcohol and do not permit different households to gather indoors.

They told The Morning Advertiser​ their anxiety about wasted beer orders and future closures.

However, for some operators it will only be viable to reopen once their area is placed into tier one, where up to six people are allowed to meet indoors and pubs can serve alcohol without food.

Luke Payne, chef owner at The Pack Horse, Hayfield, Peak District

“Initially [being placed in tier three] was a huge shock because we’re really rural round here. There’s absolutely no need for us to be anywhere near tier three. We were in tier one before and had only just gone into tier two the day the second lockdown was announced. So to suddenly find ourselves in tier three at the other end of it was a real shock.”

pack horse

“But it is also understandable, we are in quite close proximity to Manchester.”

“There’s nothing we can do about it at the end of the day, so we had to grit our teeth and say ‘what can we do in the meantime?'”

The Pack Horse has been producing meal kits for customers. “It’s something a bit more premium for people to do at home. It’s covering the cost of the bills, which is all you can hope for at the moment.”

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