The Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, has announced an additional one-off £1,000 Christmas grant for wet-led pubs in tiers 2 and 3 who will miss out on much needed business during the busy Christmas period.
A wet-led pub is a bar which doesn’t serve food and relies almost entirely on the sale of drinks for its business. This means that most wet-led pubs will be closed for the festive period. The £1,000 payment will be a one-off for December and will be paid on top of the existing £3,000 monthly cash grants for businesses.
Under the current rules only pubs that serve substantial meals are allowed to operate under Tier 2 restrictions with premises in Tier 3 only allowed to offer a takeaway service.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson said:
'Pubs are at the heart of communities across the country and they have been among the businesses which have suffered the most during the pandemic.
While we can’t make up for all the trade they will lose over Christmas, I hope this new £1,000 grant – on top of the furlough, VAT and business rates relief and existing grants, goes some way to help them weather the economic storm.'
Eligible wet-led pubs across tiers 2 and 3 are invited to apply for the Christmas grant through their local authority.
