Greene King Pub Partners has continued its rent support for tenants during the Covid-19 crisis by confirming that all tied tenants will continue receiving 90% rent concessions until the end of the current lockdown.
This comes despite the government announcing grants of up to £9,000 for individual hospitality businesses impacted by the latest lockdown to help them through to the spring.
Greene King Pub Partners wrote to all of its 1,000 tenants to confirm the additional support, which brings total financial support to more than £25m since the onset of the pandemic in March 2020.
The support remains in place while pubs are forced to stay shut under government restrictions and applies whether or not a pub is offering a takeaway service.
Wayne Shurvinton, Greene King Pub Partners managing director, said, “The great British pub has been in a fight for its survival since the first lockdown in March 2020. We have stood shoulder to shoulder with our partners since that date and we are determined to keep doing all we can to support them now.
“However, reducing rents alone will not be enough and without further government support, pubs will continue losing money every week while they remain closed.
“The latest grants are a good step in the right direction but with no date for pubs to reopen, they will soon vanish on other overheads and outstanding bills.
“Pubs need guarantees of further long-term support from government, such as an extension of the current VAT cut for hospitality and a continuation of the current business rates relief. As it stands, both of these would come to an end at around the point in the spring when it looks like pubs could finally be able to reopen.'
Shurvinton finished, 'This could be the cruellest blow of all to hard-working publicans who reopen their pubs to welcome customers back in and suddenly see costs spiral.”
