A Bristol bar owner who sold his house to keep his business afloat fears it will still not be enough to stave off permanent closure.
Richard Brennan opened The Fox in St Philip's in 2017, anticipating a number of major developments to be built on its doorstep including the University of Bristol's new Temple Quarter campus and Bristol Arena.
Not only have these schemes not materialised, but a number of nearby businesses have either relocated or closed for good because of the coronavirus pandemic, causing a huge reduction in trade.
In July last year, Richard sold his home and rented it from the person who bought it to inject some cash into The Fox, hopeful that trade would return to normal by Christmas.
"The only way I could keep afloat last year was by selling my house in July," said Richard, who ran his own security firm before launching The Fox.
"Of course I could have handed in the towel, but I've put everything into this business and didn't want to give up that easily.
"At the time I really thought we were going to have a revival and that business would be booming again by December. I definitely didn't expect us to be kicking off 2021 with another long lockdown."
The 46-year-old said he has lost about 95 per cent of trade at weekends this year, adding it's 'not much better on weekdays'.
Nearby businesses that have moved on since his launch four years ago include the Vauxhall car dealership, Gulliver's Truck Hire and numerous office buildings, taking formerly regular customers away from the area.
Unless there is a notable uptake in trade, he doesn't think he'll be able to see out the summer.
"Business was quite positive at the start of 2020 and we were starting to get a good crowd in here, but since the first lockdown it has been setback after setback," he added.
"It has been brutal over the past few weekends in particular. Last Saturday I only had one customer in the evening, which is really disheartening considering I'd started preparing all the food at 6am.
"To be honest I think I've got another three months left unless things massively pick up. I'm really worried I won't be able to weather the storm."
Richard said December was 'hugely damaging' for his business, as he had ordered 'thousands of pounds worth of stock' for the festive period, only to throw it all away when the Government moved Bristol to Tier 3, forcing hospitality businesses to close just one week after they were allowed to reopen.
He has recently renovated the garden area of his café-bar and is selling a range of plants from it to try and attract more customers from across the city.
"I guess it's a bit unusual having a garden centre in a pub, but I've got to try something," he said. "I'm not really sure what I'd do if I have to close as I've given up all my security qualifications.
"This was supposed to be my semi-retirement but it definitely doesn't feel like that. I'm putting in around 100 hours a week and still losing money."
The Fox is located at 11 Victoria Rd, St Philip's, Bristol BS2 0UT. More information can be found on its Facebook page.
