Originally written by Anna Jordan on Small Business
UPDATED: Boris Johnson is expected to announce next week that the two-metre rule will be relaxed from July 4 and that pubs, restaurants, cafés and attractions can reopen post-lockdown.
For independent bars and eateries, the difference between the two-metre rule being enforced and one-metre social distancing is the difference between viability and the 2.8m hospitality staff currently on furlough not having a job to go back to, according to trade body UKHospitality.
The hospitality industry and the Government will also publish guidance next week as to how to reopen your restaurant, pub or hotel post-lockdown.
The guidance does however allow some flexibility rather than a one-size-fits-all approach, as seen in other business sectors.
Kate Nicholls, chief executive of UKHospitality, told the Today programme: “What we understand so far is that they are looking to reopen our businesses on July 4 with appropriate guidelines in place that will allow individual premises to undertake a detailed risk assessment and propose and put forward the control measures that they feel are necessary to keep their team and their guests safe.”
According to the draft post-lockdown hospitality sector guidance, obtained by The Times:
Pubs
Limits to the number of people allowed into pubs with markings