10pm blanket curfew to be introduced tomorrow - how will Tooting's hospitality industry be affected?

By The Editor 23rd Sep 2020

Tooting hospitality businesses have been preparing for an earlier curfew from Thursday (24th September) following the newest government guidelines.

All restaurants, bars and pubs will need to close by 10pm from Thursday onwards.

This comes after the UK's coronavirus alert level moved to 4, which means transmission is now "high or rising exponentially".

Tooting Nub News spoke to some of the local pubs and restaurants to see how they are being affected by the change.

Paul Belcher, manager of The Tapas Room and Tapas + Trinity, says that while the new rules will have a limited effect on his restaurants, they have the potential to be damaging to the industry.

"We are lucky that we are in smaller venues," Paul told Nub News.

"Yes we will be missing an hour at the end, but we can cope with that.

"I think things like staff having to wear masks will be just as damaging to the industry.

"It is just not very customer or communication friendly."

The Selkirk pub, situated on Selkirk Road, has said they will be opening their kitchens one hour earlier to adapt to the new rules.

Ben Ashcroft, manager of The Selkirk pub, told Nub News:

"Whilst we don't necessarily agree with the introduction of a blanket 10pm curfew, we will of course abide by the new rules.

"Despite the many measures that have been put in place across most hospitality venues, it seems like we are being made to suffer for shortcomings elsewhere."

The Selkirk says the curfew will only have a small impact on their evening guests and on the business, but they hope the community will continue to support them.

The Rose and Crown, situated on Tooting Bec Road, says that they support the government's decision.

Duane Betts, manager of the pub, told Nub News:

"We support the new regulations and continue to uphold all the measures Wandsworth and Government have announced. If people are at risk, we should protect them.

"The Rose and Crown is a community pub. We are here for the locals, and visitors from outside this community, to get together and feel comfortable in a safe, clean and protected pub bubble.

"Tooting is a strong community. We are there to support them."

You can keep up to date with all of the establishments featured in this article here.

* The Tapas Room

* The Selkirk SW17

• The Rose & Crown