Fuller’s has made the welcome decision to cancel commercial rents on its tenanted pubs following closures.
The chain announced it would shut all of its 215 pubs and hotels last week, due to coronavirus fears.
Now, in a letter to tenants, the chain revealed it would be stopping rent for the time being as a result of the closures.
The letter from Fuller’s was posted on Twitter by Mike Clist, the CEO of the British Institute of Innkeeping (BII).
The letter reads: “We are stopping all commercial rent from this week for all tenanted pubs, trading or otherwise. This will be reviewed periodically as the situation changed.
“For the avoidance of doubt and the provide clarity, this is not a suspension of billing nor rent holiday, this reduction will not be recovered by Fuller’s.”
A spokesperson for Fuller's said: “It is imperative that we help our tenants through these unprecedented times. To that end, we have suspended all commercial rent for the time being and we will review this as the situation progresses.
“We want to make sure that, when this is all over, our tenants are in a good position to get their pubs back to full strength. To that end, we are working with the BII to ensure they can access any additional relevant Government support to help with their cashflow and with other partners to protect their emotional wellbeing too. In addition, we are in contact, on a very regular basis, through our Business Development Managers.”
The news comes after pubs, restaurants, gyms, leisure centres and cinemas were told to close across London last week in a bid to slow the coronavirus surge.
