The Suffolk tax collector described the decision to place the county at Level 4 as “for the common good” but called on the government to cover the costs of the bars while they should be closed.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock announced today at a Downing Street press conference that effective 12.01 a.m. at Boxing, Day Suffolk – along with Tendring, Uttlesford and Colchester – will move to Level 4 Coronavirus restrictions, which means hospitality must close. .
Nick Atfield, Real Estate Manager at Adnams, who owns a large number of bars and hotels in Suffolk and Norfolk, said: “The closure order on Boxing Day is disappointing for us but we understand the need with the new mutant Covid strain.
Nick Atfield, Adnams Director of Real Estate
Credit: James Bedford / Adams
“It’s a sad situation for us. If you are a professional in the hospitality industry, you happily entertain people – not by closing our doors.
“ The difficulty for us is that we are all still stockpiles of what would have been a relatively busy period for us – despite our quietness compared to other years.
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Mr. Atfield said none of the food would be wasted and would be sold, distributed among employees, or taken to food banks instead.
He added that the brewery had already chosen to close its bars from the beginning of January.
He said, “We have realized that cases are on the rise. We want to do everything we can to protect our teams, our customers and our communities.”
“Second, January and February can be very difficult to trade anyway.”
“It’s no surprise to be honest,” said Chris Mabe, who runs one bar in Woodbridge and another in Ipswich in addition to being a member of the Board of Governors.
Chris Mabe, who runs two bars, said the decision to place Suffolk at Level 4 is for the “common good”.
Credit: Sarah Lucy Brown
“We previously escaped from a higher layer of the skin of our teeth in Ipswich and East Suffolk. Now the infection rate is worse.
“We all have to do our part. If SAGE and the government decide that we need to shut down again, so be it. It’s for the common good.”
“But I am disappointed that the warm hospitality has been chosen as the licking boy.”
Mabe said he had raised £ 100,000 in government-backed debt running his business during the pandemic and called on the government to provide more support to the pubs.
“I don’t mind being asked to close,” he said. But the government needs to make appropriate grant payments.
The subsidy should cover our fixed costs instead of government backed debt.
