An owner of a popular late night bar in Southport has told us about the devastating effects Covid has had on his businesses.
The owner of Retro, who has asked to stay anonymous, told the ECHO about how the global pandemic has 'financially killed' him and his family.
The 54-year-old man was forced to use income support for the first time in 30 years as his bar continued to struggle during the height of the pandemic.
He told the ECHO: "At the moment we're taking very little. I was shielding for 14 months and I had no income from the bar, I had no income from my day job which is property management and I was on income support for the first time in 30 years. It killed me.
"I was sat in the house, I couldn't move out the house. Now, I have come off income support, I have minimal coming out other bars because of the extra outlay."
The owner has had to employ two members of staff to keep up with table service, something seen by many bars across the country.
The bar has seen a fall in sales with the pandemic affecting staff and stock. He told the ECHO: "Once the lockdown restrictions have lifted, we may be able to keep the new members of staff on if it is financially supportive for us, if the revenue is coming in.
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"At the moment it's a lot of cost. The price of stock has gone up. It has gone up to the extent of it is limited to what you can get. We don't know if it's because companies have started making other products over lockdown such as hand sanitiser or if it's because of Brexit. I don't know."
The hospitality industry is set to have another big blow today as the Prime Minster is expected to delay the easing of restrictions. The owner of the late night venue said how the bar's capacity has been more than halved with the restrictions around table service and social distancing.
The bar would expect to have 150 people in before reaching full capacity, now it is lucky to fit 60 people into the venue.
He told the ECHO: "Another four weeks will hit financially. We've still got the outlay of the extra staff, we're not taking in the amount of revenue we once were. Say for example, we can serve 50-60 people seated whereas previously could have had 150 people in Retro.
"A third of your revenue has gone. Whatever you take, a third is staff wages, a third is your stock and then the last third, a lot is your bills, then you take your own wage. Your own wage comes last."
