'Devastated' Sheffield pub landlady implores government for clearer guidelines as city placed in Tier 3 lockdown

Louise Singleton, landlady of the Kelham Island Tavern, said she believed the hospitality industry was being “thrown under a bus” and “used as a scapegoat”, while other industries are allowed to remain open.

And she said she is concerned for the welfare of her staff and customers after the news that she will have to close her business.

Ms Singleton, whose pub is the only one in the UK to have been named the Campaign for Real Ale’s National Pub of the Year two years running, told the PA news agency: “It’s quite appalling really, my first reaction is just panic.

“We still don’t know any information, it’s just wading through what has become available online to see what assistance may be available to us, looking at our stock, seeing what we can do, what we can get through.”

She added: “It’s very draining. I’m devastated today because I feel like I’m just admitting defeat as a business.”

The landlady, who said she is losing hundreds of pounds each week, said pubs needed more information about what the restrictions mean and what assistance is available.

She said: “Give us some clear guidelines and communicate.

“The hardest thing for us is the lack of communication, we’re having to make decisions with no, or very little, information. We need someone to actually come and talk to us.”

Ms Singleton, who has run the award-winning pub with partner Josh Jepson since 2018, said she did not believe that a large number of coronavirus cases were being transmitted through the hospitality industry.

She said: “The test and trace has proven that such a small proportion of cases are coming through pubs, we’re being used as a scapegoat.

“It’s the easy answer, isn’t it? Just shut them down and it looks like they’re doing something.

“Industries like supermarkets are being protected and we’re being thrown under the bus.”

She said her main concern was the welfare of her seven members of staff, and said that the closure of the pub would have a

great effect on her single customers.

Ms Singleton added: “That is the heartbreaking side of it. People who are living on their own and we are their lifeline, they are going to be feeling it.

“We’re not just a pub that sells alcohol, we’re a community that looks after each other.”

Tier Three is the highest level of government restrictions to combat the virus and come into force in Sheffield, Barnsley, Rotherham and Doncaster, first thing on Saturday morning from 12.01am.

Robert Hayton, head of property tax at Altus Group, said government support for firms during the first lockdown had now largely been spent.

He added: “Pubs need a targeted support package, not just those mandated to close, as well as given assurances that the package will be in place for the foreseeable future.”

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We stand together. Nancy Fielder, editor.