Clubs to open on July 4 as social distancing reduced to 1 metre
All clubs will now be able to welcome members back as long as safety measures are in place with one metre distancing. Hospitality indoors will be restriced to table service and, for sports clubs, all sports changing facilities must remain closed.
The review of 2m social distancing was first announced by Prime Minister Boris Johnson on 14 June, with Health Secretary Matt Hancock stating that England was "clearly on track" to ease lockdown restrictions. But,warned Mr Johnson, "Caution will be our watchword. Every stage will be conditional and reversable'.
Matthew Phipps, partner at UK law firm TLT, said: “This is wonderful news for clubs and the whole hospitality industry. We have heard about phones ringing off the hook with people wanting to make bookings already – and that just goes to show how desperately customers and club members are craving getting this part of their lives back. Further guidance will be crucial to helping clubs move forward with confidence, and we are anticipating more details soon.”
The confirmed date of July 4 for reopenings was greeted with relief and praise by trade body UKHospitality. Chief Executive Kate Nicholls said: “Reducing the minimum distance will be a huge help to hospitality. The two-metre rule would have capped capacity for most venues at around 30%. That would have been totally unviable for most businesses and would have risked even more jobs and the futures of venues. Reduction to one-metre should see most venues able to trade at around 70% of capacity, which could be the difference between failure and staying alive to see out the remainder of the crisis, particularly with added support.”
But, warned Nicholls, while many venues will endeavour to reopen on 4th July, capacities will be constrained by social distancing and some may be unable to trade viably at all. "Continued Government support will remain crucial,” she said. “Many businesses have been closed for months with no revenue and are now facing substantial rent and PAYE bills. We need financial help from the Government, otherwise some of these businesses are going to go under right at the point at which they are allowed to open once again.”
While club members are registered by individual clubs, it has been suggested that customers may have to register when entering pubs and bars so they can easily be traced if they come into contact with a coronavirus case. Plans to require pubs to register visitors before they are allowed in, reports The Telegraph, would harm people's liberties and pile further pressure on the sector, the boss of Marston's has warned. Ralph Findlay, chief executive of the 1,400 site pub chain, said the measures would be "impractical", adding the notion that customers would willingly give the correct information to pubs was "bonkers".
- Figures from the Office for National Statistics put the number of overall deaths in England and Wales for the week ending 12 June back to below 10,000 for the first time this year, 6% above the five year average.
- The Government's committee of scientific advisers say current evidence suggests being 1m (just over 3ft) apart carries between two and 10 times the risk of being 2m apart.
More details will appear shortly.
