Tooting Wetherspoons expected to remain closed until April

Pub giant JD Wetherspoon says it expects its pubs in Tooting and the rest of the borough to remain shut until April as the coronavirus pandemic continues.

The company reports "zero" sales in 2021 so far, as all of its 872 pubs have remained closed since December 31.

Despite a summer boost from Chancellor Rishi Sunak's 'Eat Out to Help Out' scheme, Wetherspoons says like-for-like sales dropped more than a quarter in the 15 weeks to November 8.

Sales were hit by introduction of measures such as the tier category, which in Tooting and the rest of Wandsworth saw the borough in Tier 3 and then Tier 4 after the second nationwide lockdown in November.

Other damaging changes prior to lockdown included a 10pm curfew, a requirement to order all food and drink 'at the table', and the mandatory use of face masks when moving around inside pubs.

Before reopening last July and August, the company spent £13.1 million nationally on implementing measures aimed to keep its pubs Covid-secure.

A report presented this week to City investors said: "Assessments were carried out to ensure the risk of transmission of the virus was mitigated in all aspects of the pubs' operation.

"There were approximately 50 million customer visits registered using the 'track and trace' system, and there have been no incidents of an outbreak among customers, as defined by the health authorities, reported to the company, at any Wetherspoon pub."

The government enforced closures have forced the pub chain to place more than 99% of its 37,674 staff on furlough. Staff numbers have also declined from 43,741 last March, with 378 employees at the Head Office and airport sites also made redundant.

During the current closure period, the chairman and non-executives' pay has been reduced by 50%, and the CEO's by 25%.

Wetherspoon's had planned to draw customers back in the New Year with cut prices but instead had to close all its pubs when most of England was plunged into Tier 3 and Tier 4, before the current lockdown started on January 5.

The company commented: "The duration of the current lockdown and ongoing restrictions is uncertain at this stage. The company's current assumptions are that its pubs will remain closed until the end of March 2021."

Wetherspoons has planned for a range of scenarios, including one where pubs remain closed until May. It does not expect trade to return to pre-pandemic levels until at least 2022.

Even so, without the capital fundraising it is currently undertaking, the company estimates that it has enough liquidity to last until the end of the current financial year.

Tim Martin, chairman of Wetherspoons, said: "After a number of false starts, the hospitality industry generally anticipates a return to more normal trading patterns in the spring and summer, as a result of the introduction of a mass vaccination programme."