Covid: Christmas restrictions 'cost Welsh pubs £16,000 each'

Welsh Beer and Pub Association chief Emma McClarkin said pubs had lost cash they "won't recover"

Pubs in Wales lost an average of £16,000 each during the latest round of Covid restrictions, according to an industry organisation.

Welsh Beer and Pub Association chief executive Emma McClarkin said it was cash they won't get back.

The Welsh government put restrictions on big events and businesses in December after Covid case increases caused by Omicron.

Now it has announced a move to alert level zero by the start of February.

Nightclubs were shut and events limited to 50 people outdoors and 30 indoors.

Ms McClarkin said: "The indication that we are going back to zero is fantastic, but a lot of damage has been done in that period of closure.

"Every day we trade matters, so I just wish it was happening a bit faster."

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From Friday 28 January, nightclubs will be able to open and hospitality allowed to operate normally.

Covid passes will still be needed for clubs, large events, cinemas and theatres.

Ms McClarkin said while January was normally quiet pubs depended on the "deeply interrupted" festive period.

Emma McClarkin said pubs relied on Christmas and New Year trade

"Even from Boxing Day, that is an important two week phase," she said.

"On average the pub in Wales lost about £16,000. They are losses that they are not going to recover."

Since December 26, pubs and restaurants have been restricted to table service and the rule-of-six has been in place.

David Chapman, the executive director for UK Hospitality in Wales, told BBC Radio Wales that limits on table sizes have left hospitality in an "extremely difficult situation".

"It will be years before pubs and restaurants in Wales recoup their losses," he said, adding: "It's something that we should be focused on, not just as an industry but as a nation."

Laura Hubbard, of Llandeilo's Flows cafe, said she understood why rules had been imposed.

"But it's difficult when you see what's been happening in Downing Street and that sort of thing," she said.

"We are always positive when we are open. We look forward now with hope."

Laura Hubbard, of Llandeilo's Flows cafe, said she understood why rules had been imposed

Annest Rowlands, owner of the Blas Mwy Black Lion, in Llanfaethlu, Anglesey called December "a flop". Even before the restrictions were brought in on 26 December, she said that "people were scared."

"We were hearing about more Covid cases, Omicron was appearing," she said.

"So people were keeping away from having parties. I think we had one Christmas party where we would normally have 20 or 25."

She decided closed for a few weeks in January.

They hoped the rule change would mean things would return to normal.

Blas Mwy Black Lion owner Annest Rowlands dubbed December "a flop"

Ms Rowlands said: "Every time we close we think, is this it? Can we open in a few weeks and be back to normal?

"I don't think we'll recognise normal again."

Swansea University psychology lecturer, Dr Simon Williams, believed now was the right time to start reducing restrictions.

"The data is suggesting we are turning a corner and that the rates are coming down," he said.

"It makes perfect sense to allow people to gather in those ways outdoors and if, as should be announced today that the data trend is downwards, to allow people without legal restrictions indoors as well."

But he sounded a note of warning.

Psychology lecturer Dr Simon Williams believed now was the right time to reduce restrictions

"Things are trending in the right direction and there is much cause for optimism," he said.

"But we do not want to jump straight back into acting as if the pandemic is over because rates are still high."