Greene King Pub Partners has continued its rent support for tenants during the Covid-19 crisis by confirming that all tied tenants in tiers two and three will receive a 90% rent concession from 2 December.
Meanwhile, tied tenants in tier one will receive a 40% rent concession. As it stands, however, out of Greene King’s 875 pubs in England there are none in a tier one area.
This mirrors support in Scotland where pubs in levels two to four are receiving a 90% rent concession and those in levels zero to one are receiving a 40% rent concession.
Greene King Pub Partners’ financial support for its tenants stands at £25m.
The move follows confirmation by the government that 99% of the country will initially be in either tier two or tier three areas from 2 December, and that the restrictions in both tiers will see pubs severely curtailed during what would usually be the most important month of the year.
Greene King Pub Partners Managing Director, Wayne Shurvinton said, “We supported our tied partners through the recent November lockdown with a 90% rent concession and that will remain in place as the tier system is a lockdown in all but name for the majority of pubs.
“Despite investing hundreds of thousands of pounds over the summer to install safety measures like Perspex screens and hand sanitiser, plus taking on extra staff to increase cleaning frequency and allow table service, our tenants have still been closed down for Christmas by the government, even though they have done everything that was asked of them.
“We are providing this rent concession to do what we can to help what are profitable and viable businesses get through winter so they can begin rebuilding in 2021.
“Unfortunately for some, rent concessions may not be enough and without further government support, such as increasing grants, extending the VAT hospitality cut to include alcohol and bringing back the Job Retention Bonus, thousands of pubs remain at risk across the country.”
Alongside the rent concessions, Greene King Pub Partners can also benefit from a discount on barrels purchased from Greene King until the end of March 2021, with tied tenants receiving a trade credit of £35 per barrel.
Greene King Pub Partners will review the level of rent support every four weeks.