Sheffield pub owner slams 'ill-conceived' Covid rules as business is forced to close

Bosses of Two Sheds, which opened in 2018, claimed ‘the numbers just don't work’ to operate a delivery-only service and said the pub will close ‘until further notice’.

In a Facebook post, they said the entire industry has been ‘thrown under the bus’ by the decision to ban pubs from operating an on-site takeaway service because a small number did not follow the rules.

The accepted reasoning for the ban, they said, was to stop punters buying takeaway alcohol then standing around nearby to drink it.

The post read: “This is particularly harsh on small pubs like Two Sheds - we don't have an outside space, and have been operating for months in a "COVID safe" manner without any issues.

"And it means now that any money independent outlets would have made is now going in the pockets of the large corporations such as supermarkets and off-licence chains.”

It comes after a Sheffield brewery boss warned one in four pubs will shut after the industry was made ‘a sacrificial cow’.

The post continued: “Let's also not forget that independent outlets support independent suppliers - namely the local breweries. Consider their income, and their staff whose jobs may now be at risk.

“This hammer to crack a nutshell move by Government is ill-conceived, and they should strongly reconsider their approach or places such as Two Sheds, along with all their staff, and all their suppliers, may not be around to prop up the economy when/if things get back to normal.”