Starting today, the tough rules are aimed to tackle a rise in Coronavirus cases. The decision will be reviewed on the 17th of December.
Welsh pubs, restaurants and cafes are banned from selling alcohol and they must shut their doors to the public at 6pm from Friday.
Takeaway service is allowed after the closure time, and businesses equipped with an off-licence can sell alcohol to take out up till 10 pm. Indoor entertainment and visitor attractions will also have to close.
Mark Drakeford announced the new rules at the beginning of the week, sparking a backlash amongst many people working in the industry.
The fragile financial position of the hospitality sector has been a cause for concern for months. A survey carried out during the summer by the Welsh Independent Restaurant Collective (WIRC) revealed a total of 12,000 jobs losses at that date.
The group estimated also a further 8,500 employees will be facing redundancy by the end of the year, and in September called for emergency support.
Summer and Christmas are the busiest seasons for the industry and evenings represent the peak time in profits for many pubs. We asked independent business owners and experts how Welsh hospitality can survive.
Meryl Cubley, #nomorenoshows campaign, Editor and Journalist
“I think the simple answer is: to get as creative as possible… The Hare and Hounds team are now opening as a cafe and bakery to face off the alcohol ban. And I think that this is just the beginning [of a creative upsurge]. It has to be. For everyone in this sector to survive.”
Alastair Kerr, CampaignForPubs
“The new restrictions on pubs are devastating for the hard-working publicans and their families and have been seen by many in the trade as the final nail in the coffin. The UK Government is simply using pubs and the hospitality sector as a convenient scapegoat for its poor handling of the COVID-19 Pandemic.”
James W. Clarke, Hook Norton Brewery
“Pubs are unique, part of our way of life, and in more rural communities, often the only social point of contact… Proper, measured financial support is needed… There is real lockdown fatigue, and with little science to justify the lockdown and now the tiers, we are heading for mass disobedience.”
Mark Shackleton, independent pub and property owner
“I am involved with mental health issues and Christmas can be the loneliest time of the year, for some people just to be able to pop into a pub for a drink with the warmth and the welcome of a bar can make someone feel they are no longer alone in the world. I think the second lockdown should have been done earlier.”
Ian Price, CBI Wales
“I think we need to see the evidence that has been used to arrive at this decision… people… are not convinced that it will help to keep infection rates down. The sector will survive and it’s hugely resilient, but short term impact will be devastating… the sector is going to lose its busiest trading period of the year.”
James Karran, St Canna’s Ale House
“I think… the government’s making a scapegoat out of public houses and hospitality businesses. The idea of having to close at 6pm and not selling alcohol for the entire day is like using a hammer to break an egg. The grants they’ve promised are scratching the surface. It’s not going to go anywhere near far enough.”
Gavin Hill-Jones, BNI South Wales
“I don’t think they’re going to be able to weather this storm necessarily for any length of time. Independent businesses have worked so hard to create these safe controlled environments. They spent fortunes on PPE, screens, signage, sanitising stations but you walk to the supermarket and see how many people don’t even have a mask on.”