A Bristol landlord has shared his concerns for the months ahead, which will see pubs having to pay business rates again alongside repaying loans they have taken out to help them survive the pandemic.
The Government announced an extension to its business rates holiday for pubs in March 2020 to help them reopen, but this relief is due to come to an end after June.
From July, rates will be discounted to one third of the normal charge for the rest of the financial year, up to a maximum of £2m for closed businesses and a lower cap for those that have been able to open.
This will coincide with when many landlords will be required to start paying back substantial loans from their banks to help them weather the storm over the past year.
James Carden, landlord of The Rose of Denmark in Hotwells, said the impending outgoings are a 'huge worry' for pub operators.
"Everyone I know has taken out quite a large bounce back loan the repayments start soon," he said. "I get weekly reminders from my bank saying I need to start paying £880 per month in July.
"I doubt very much there's a pub in the country that doesn't have a huge amount of debt behind it.
"It's a massive worry as it's a huge outgoing when we're not operating at full strength."
James is worried that there will still be restrictions in place when pubs have to start paying business rates and loans back, which would make it even more challenging to cover the costs.
"Unless social restrictions actually get lowered in June, which I'd say is looking unlikely, it's going to be next to impossible to pay the money back in the current climate," he added.
"If we're still at half capacity and people are still apprehensive about coming to the pub, there's no way we'll be able to start paying it back."
Despite these concerns, James would rather continue operating with the current rules in place than open fully on June 21 and risk having to close soon after because of another lockdown, which would be 'catastrophic'.
Across the entire hospitality sector, many operators are also facing significantly increased debts and deferred rental obligations.
"I've always been of the opinion that pubs are some of the safest places you can visit throughout the pandemic," added James. "We've gone much further than any other industry to keep people safe.
"Retail for example has had far less strict rules in place than pubs, and yet they've been allowed to trade fairly freely throughout all of this.
"Hospitality is such a big part of Bristol's culture and it would be a huge shame if the unique, independent pubs are bought up by Wetherspoon and other major companies like that."
