With the latest England and Scotland restrictions announced in the last few days we thought it was time to try and make sense of what each part of the UK is dealing with.
These rules are specifically for hospitality venues because, well, that’s what we do.
England
Restrictions
As of Thursday Nov 5th (inclusive) all hospitality venues in England will be forced to shut until Dec 2nd. Deliveries are currently still allowed although, unlike the previous lockdown, takeaway alcohol is not allowed – this change is currently getting serious lobbying action for it to be removed so it isn’t written in stone yet by a long shot.
All areas who were due to go into tier 3 today don’t have to and just wait for full lockdown on Thursday.
As of Dec 2nd the country returns to the tier approach with hospitality once again being punished:
Tier 1 – Hospitality can open with new closing time of 11pm (last drinks must be sold before 10pm).
Tier 2 – Alcohol can only be sold in hospitality only when served with a main meal, venues can only open if they run ‘as a restuarant’.
Tier 3 – All hospitality shut apart from delivery and takeaway.
Support
The Job Retention Scheme (or Furlough as it is better known), due to end on Nov 1st has been extended until the end of March at 80% of pay covered by the government (this percentage amount is due to be reviewed in January 2021).
Whilst there is no news of support for businesses yet there was already a support package of up to £3,000 for every venue in tier 3 so we can only imagine that this will be the minimum offered to venues, but that does rely on a level of sense and reasoning that this government have showed no sign of up until now.
Scotland
Restrictions
As of today (Monday 2nd November) Scotland has a 5 tier system in effect which will be reviewed every week starting on Nov 10th. Currently no areas of Scotland have been put into the lowest or highest tiers (tier 0 and tier 5) so we will concentrate on those in use:
For all tiers a maximum of 6 people from two households can meet indoors or outdoors for hospitality venues. Contact details need to be collected, customers must wear face coverings when not seated, staff must always wear face coverings and only table service allowed.
Tier 1 – extra restriction is that all venues must close by 10:30pm
Tier 2 – no alcohol can be served unless it is with a main meal (we’ll leave you to go down the rabbit hole that is ‘what is a main meal’ but basically something substantial, not a snack). Indoors to shut by 10pm and outdoors by 10:30pm
Tier 3 – no alcohol can be served and venues must close by 6pm (this tier covers the majority of Scotland)
For the record:
Tier 0 – up to 8 people from 3 households indoors or 15 people from 3 households outdoors. Venues can open as usual but some time restrictions may apply
Tier 5 – all hospitality shut
Support
The Job Retention Scheme (or Furlough as it is better known), due to end on Nov 1st has been extended until the end of March at 80% of pay covered by the government (this percentage amount is due to be reviewed in January 2021) and covers Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Business are being covered by a Coronavirus restrictions fund with a total pot of £48 million. These come in two areas, the Closure Fund for those businesses forced to close with a grant of £2,875 or £4,310 dependent on rateable value, and the Hardship Fund for those with reduced trading of £1,440 or £2,155. These payments cover 9th October to 2nd November and must be applied for before 5pm on November 3rd. Our understanding is these will be ongoing monthly payments as long as the restrictions apply.
Wales
Restrictions
Wales have come out of their self imposed 17 day firebreak as of Monday 9th Nov. Hospitality are now allowed to reopen with a maximum of 4 people (allowed to be from different households) able to meet both indoors and outdoors.
From Friday 4th December at 18:00 all venues in Wales will be banned from selling alcohol and will have to close at 18:00. This will be reviewed on 17th December.
Support
The Job Retention Scheme (or Furlough as it is better known), due to end on Nov 1st has been extended until the end of March at 80% of pay covered by the government (this percentage amount is due to be reviewed in January 2021) and covers Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
A one-off payment of up to £5,000 was given to all hospitality venues during the firebreak and a further £1,000 payment given to all businesses covered by the small business rate relief. We are assuming new support announcements will be made with the new restrictions announcements.
An extra £180m has been highlighted specifically for tourism, leisure and hospitality business with the introduction of the shutdown on Dec 4th. Exact details not yet known.
Northern Ireland
Restrictions
Since Nov 16th hospitality venues had to shut for 4 weeks (for the record education was shut for 2 weeks). Hospitality is due to reopen on Nov 13th and the first minister said that it is due to happen ‘as planned’ although some have been suggesting a review is needed first.
Support
The Job Retention Scheme (or Furlough as it is better known), due to end on Nov 1st has been extended until the end of March at 80% of pay covered by the government (this percentage amount is due to be reviewed in January 2021) and covers Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
For every fortnight they are forced to shut businesses are able to receive financial support based on their Net Annual Value (NAV), the three tiers come in at £1,600, £2,400 and £3,200 fortnightly.
As you will have noticed every part of the UK is under different conditions and/or at different points of lockdown which makes keeping on top of things tricky. We are going to try our best to keep this page up to date so if you do want to know what is happening around the UK give this a bookmark.
