CHRONICLE II

“No man’s land for Pubs”

It’s been just over a week now since the first of the pubs ventured to open. A difficult decision for most of the publicans that decided to go first. 

It’s difficult to see through the fog of what has happened in the first week other than a few areas, mostly cities, there does not seem to be a great appetite from the customer base to take the chance to go out to the pub.

The youth seem to be the big come back but the thirty plus (the back bone of the food element of any pub) are not to be seen in any great numbers, in some cases the premises that have reduced space, reduced seating and such cannot even fill those seats on the busiest nights noting lunch times are even worse.

It’s difficult to see what more the publican can do to get more business that is desperately needed to get through the first three months.

If they can’t get through the first three months and then heads into the winter with no profit built up then they are truly over “where is the covering fire from our leaders”?

The publican now faces the fact that they have gone to the expense of opening, they are “locked in” now and can’t turn back and I would say in many cases the publican does not know how much they have lost or made in the first week.

The publican just has to keep going if they turn back now, they will never make it to the trenches it’s hard to see how they would recover.

So “no man’s land” is a scary place and already some have broken rank and by not staying together. They have exposed their publican colleagues to “withering fire” from potential new cases of the virus.

Will the 20^th of July happen for the rest of the trade, I believe it is a great risk of being pushed out all it needs is a very small percentage of cases of the virus to force a different decision on the licensed trade.

Publicans in most have stuck together but the ones that have broken rank need to be fully exposed. The old attitude of “ah sure let them off I will do it my way” will not be good enough if the worst happens, expose them now and every day they put your chances of survival at risk.

We can’t afford to stumble over that open ground if all are not together!

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