Anger and confusion in Sheffield as city businesses react to Tier 3 announcement

Just one week after the city was placed into a Tier 2 local lockdown, Sheffield City Region Mayor Dan Jarvis announced that South Yorkshire would move up a level into the highest band, closing hospitality and hundreds of other businesses for an indefinite period.

Hardest hit will be pubs and bars with figures showing that 411 will be forced to close in Sheffield alone, while more than 950 across the county will also be affected unless they can operate as a restaurant serving ‘substantial meals’.

Unlike in the first lockdown, hairdressers, barbers and beauty salons can remain open but bookies, soft play centres and casinos will all also need to close while gyms will no longer be able to hold exercise classes.

Alan Quinlen, co-owner of the Bar Stewards micropub on Gibraltar Street, said in some ways the news was a relief, but that more detail on exactly how much financial support would be available was desperately needed.

He said: “Tier 2 didn’t really work for anybody and caused a massive drop in trade so in one sense it’s nice to have a little bit of closure and to know where we stand.

“But we’ve done everything they’ve asked us to and now we are being told to close without any idea of when we will be able to reopen and what support is there for us.”

On Broad Lane, Tom Boulding, the owner of Fagan’s bar, said the announcement had been expected but there was still a great deal of uncertainty over what exactly it would mean for city centre businesses.

He said: “When we first reopened we were doing about 40-50 per cent of normal trade but when they introduced the new rules you can be full with 10 people and we can’t trade on those kinds of figures.

“They say you can stay open if you serve substantial food and we do, but a lot of the offices are going to be empty and the shops will be closed. Why would you come down into the middle of town?”

However, as well as the pubs, other businesses such as takeaways and coffee shops will also be affected by fewer people visiting and working in the city centre under what is essentially a new period of lockdown only slightly less stringent than the one which began in March.

Daniel Stevens and Lisa Siddall run Food Fusion on Trippet Lane, a business which depends on trade from workers from nearby offices such as the Balance and Steel City House.

Daniel said: “I think it is going to be a struggle. We just about made it through the last one with the Government grants but it is going to be tough.

"The only thing we’ve got to hang on to is the delivery side but it is how many people are going to want to part with their money if they’ve got less coming in.”

Lisa added: “All of the offices around here are working from home. It seemed to be getting a bit better and then they changed the advice again.

“The only thing that we can hope is the there will be some more help like there was in the first lockdown.”

And Hygge on Fitzalan Square, which opened in last December, had already become a popular place for many of the city's 60,000 students to study or relax when lockdown hit.

Owner Alex Moore said that without those students in the city, many businesses in Sheffield would find it hard to survive.

He said: "Around 70-80 per cent of our customers are students so September would have been our boom period but they are all doing online lectures.

“We are a small independent and we don't have the reserves of money that a big chain has, so surviving through that has been about scraping together what we can.”

In these confusing and worrying times, local journalism is more vital than ever. Thanks to everyone who helps us ask the questions that matter by taking out a digital subscription or buying a paper. We stand together. Nancy Fielder, editor.