Pub chain Greene King is warning urgent Government support is needed towards the hospitality industry in order to prevent further pub closures and job losses.
Yesterday, the chain announced it would not be reopening 79 of its sites with around a third to close permanently.
A full list of the affected sites has not yet been released but in a statement issued by the chain it says the decision was a difficult one and was due to the changes to Government support.
A spokesperson for Greene King said: “The continued tightening of the trading restrictions for pubs, which may last another six months, along with the changes to government support was always going to make it a challenge to reopen some of our pubs.
"Therefore, we have made the difficult decision not to reopen 79 sites, including the 11 Loch Fyne restaurants we announced last week.
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"Around one-third will be closed permanently and we hope to be able to reopen the others in the future. We are working hard with our teams to try and find them a role in another of our pubs wherever possible.
“We urgently need the government to step in and provide tailored support to help the sector get through to the spring and prevent further pub closures and job losses.”
Under the current lockdown restrictions all pubs, bars and restaurants must close at 10pm and no loud music or dancing is allowed.
Greene King has around 1,700 managed pubs and 1,000 tenanted venues across Britain according to Sky News.
It is believed Greene King will seek to redeploy staff from affected pubs to other roles within the business in a bid to prevent job losses.
Greene King pubs across Liverpool include The Pump House on the Albert Dock, Willow Bank on Smithdown Road, Black Horse on County Road and the Jolly Miller in West Derby although there is not indication these pubs are at risk.
