Greene King confirms plans to close dozens of pubs, slash around 800 jobs
Thursday, October 8, 2020
One of the UK's largest pub operators is preparing to close dozens of pubs and cut hundreds more jobs after the collapse in trading was exacerbated by the government's 10pm curfew on restaurants.
Overall, 79 of Greene King's pubs and restaurants are set to close, with around a third set to be permanent.
Nick Mackenzie, Greene King boss, said recently: "The industry is still dealing with the crippling aftereffects of the nationwide lockdown and the cumulative effect of the new restrictions, combined with the singling out of pubs, mean the measures announced by the chancellor don't go far enough, especially for drink-led city centre pubs.
Sources close to the business, which owns nearly 1.700 pubs and 1.000 rent-free establishments across the UK, said it would try to relocation affected staff as much as possible amid the ongoing COVID 19 crisis.
The latest round of cuts in hospitality is a sign of the huge financial toll the sector, one of the UK's biggest employers, is taking.