‘We wouldn’t be able to have people social distancing inside’: Pub owners on trying to reopen during lockdown

‘We wouldn’t be able to serve a pint on the bar very easily,’ one landlord says

Landlord Katie Martin could find space for just four tables in her pub – which can usually hold more than 100 people – under new government rules.

The Globe’s capacity would drop to a “whopping 16”, she tells The Independent.

The pub owner in the Berkshire market town of Newbury says their inside space is too long and narrow to be able to fit many people in a socially distanced way – even with a relaxed one-metre rule.

“It isn’t a viable business to run,” she says.

Martin says The Globe, which sits right in the centre of Newbury, will not reopen on 4 July – when pubs across England have been given the green light to welcome customers back in a socially distanced way after months of closure due to coronavirus.

Neither will Platform 3 in Surrey, a tiny pub next to a train station which claims to be the smallest in the UK.

“We wouldn’t be able to have people social distancing inside the pub. We could probably have about 10 to 15 people sitting outside,” Alex Coomes, founder of Brightwater Brewery – whose brewery tap is the Claygate micropub – says.

“For us, that is not profitable,” he tells The Independent. “So we have decided not to open for sales.”

Pubs were ordered shut in late March due to the coronavirus outbreak, with the government saying earlier this week English establishments can open their doors again in early July as long as they follow certain precautions.

The Globe in Newbury has been doing takeout service during lockdown (Katie Martin)

Up until now, pubs have been finding other ways to survive, such as by doing takeout service – like The Globe – or door-to-door service.

Coomes from Platform 3 says he has been driving around his local area dropping beer at houses – sometimes getting an emotional welcome.

“When this all kicked off, I was delivering beers to people and they would burst into tears because they hadn’t seen anybody all week,” he tells The Independent.

He says this service – which includes precautions like leaving beer on the doorstep and taking payments over the phone – is a “better model” for the pub at the moment.

Alex Coomes, outside his pub Platform 3, has been delivering beer on people’s doorsteps during lockdown (Alex Coomes)

“Until the coronavirus goes away, I can’t see that changing,” Coomes adds.

Meanwhile in Suffolk, The Nutshell, another tiny pub, is hoping to be get permission to sell drinks to people standing outside.

Until then, one of the landlords tells The Independent it is ”not really feasible” for his establishment – with an inside space of 15ft by 7ft – to reopen, even with the relaxed rules in early July.

“We wouldn’t be able to serve a pint on the bar very easily,” Geoff Page from the Bury St Edmunds pub explains.

“The member of staff would have to step back from the bar for the customer to get up from the seat on the edge of the pub to collect the pint.”

Geoff Page, co-landord of The Nutshell, says it is ‘not really feasible’ for his pub to reopen just yet (Geoff Page)

He estimates the pub would be able to fit five single people inside – all sitting on their on their own – under the social distancing rules, which say people must stay at least one metre apart as a preventative measure against Covid-19.

“Our unique selling point – the size of us – happens to be the Achilles heel in this particular situation,” Page says.

The Globe in Newbury, whose narrow space makes it difficult to welcome lots of socially distanced customers, has launched a petition – called Save The Globe – to get its licence extended so it can sell drinks outside for longer.

Owners of the Nutshell pub in Bury St Edmunds say they will have to stay shut unless they can get permission to serve outside (Mary Page)

Martin says they have been told they can serve people outside between 10am to 5pm. “Which is great,” she tells The Independent,” but that’s not when I have any business. I have business in the evening.”

Outdoor space has been key for The Rake, a small pub in central London, to plan its reopening on 4 July.

The establishment in Borough Market has been open as an off-licence throughout lockdown, with people queueing up in their gardens for takeaway beer – with draught beer poured into an open can, then sealed using a machine on the bar, as an option.

“Our small garden is going to be used for customers,” manager George Aldridge tells The Independent. ”We are going to be introducing table service and table bookings – which we have never done before.”

Mike Hill, the founder of Utobeer which runs the London pub, tells The Independent: “I think if we didn’t have outside space, and somebody told us we couldn’t use outside space, I would probably seriously consider not opening.”

The small size of the pub means customers will not be allowed to drink inside, he adds.

While some pubs will be planning to welcome back people in a socially-distanced environment on 4 July, others – including smaller ones – have decided to wait a bit longer.

Coomes from Platform 3 in Claygate says his tiny pub – which can fit just one person inside – cannot afford the extra costs that would come with reopening during the pandemic, such as having a person manning the toilets.

“I can’t justify having someone do that in my micropub,” he says. ”The figures don’t add up for us.”

Speaking about pubs being able to reopen on new conditions, the landlord of The Nutshell – which is thought to be one of the smallest pubs in the UK – tells The Independent: “It is not going to change really very much at all for ourselves at all.”