Here, in no particular order, are some items that arrived after the editorial deadline:
Vaccination passports: to clarify what is reported in the Covid article, the Daily Telegraph of 15 July reported that pubs and restaurants were included in the Government guidelines (issued 14 July) which state that businesses should ‘consider the use of the NHS COVID Pass to reduce the risk of transmission at your venue or event’. This provoked immediate complaints from the COVID Recovery Group of MPs because it went against assurances given by the Prime Minister, the Cabinet Office minister, Michael Gove, and the Vaccines minister, Nadhim Zahawi. The trade were not happy about it either.
Ye Olde Mitre, High Barnet: as we go to press, I have heard the sad news that Gary Murphy has decided to call it a day and is handing the keys of the pub back to Greene King. He may well have left by the time that you read this. This is very sad. Gary was an enthusiastic, skilful and innovative publican who made the most of this historic pub without compromising its Grade II listing. This was evidenced by the number of times that he won his local CAMRA branch’s Pub of the Year award. He was also a prominent campaigner for the rights of his fellow pub tenants and fought an epic battle with Greene King, the ramifications of which continue today. We wish him all the very best for the future.
Additional ‘GBBF at Your Local’ event: CAMRA’s Bromley branch are joining forces with the Greyhound in Keston (BR2 6BP) for a joint event to both raise funds for Old
Beccehamian RFC and celebrate GBBF at Your Local. It will be held on Saturday 31 July and Sunday 1 August. It is hoped to have a number of extra guest beers available.
Don’t forget; details of all ‘GBBF at Your Local’ events can be found at https://local.gbbf.org.uk.
Young’s sale: further to the item, it is reported that the long standing tenant of a well known Young’s pub has decided to leave rather than transfer to Punch. I wonder if any more will follow.
Shepherd Neame: Shep’s chief executive, Jonathan Neame, issued a statement on 19 July saying that all of their pubs were to reopen that day. There had been some concern that some pubs in the City had been closed permanently. In what he described as a ‘gradual return to normality’, he explained that the company had decided to retain a number of the COVID measures in effect in their managed houses. In particular, table service will still be available in many pubs.
Insurance dispute continues: the long running disputes about insurance companies not paying out on claims against business interruption policies for COVID losses continue. The Stonegate Group has launched a High Court action against three of its insurers. This time, the insurers are not disputing liability but are claiming that their liability is limited to a certain amount. They have offered £17.5 million; Stonegate are claiming £845 million.
There are a number of other claims still in progress, mostly relating to restaurants.