Manchester operators hold breath ahead of latest tier announcement

By Joe Lutrario

- Last updated on GMT

Will Manchester go into Tier 2 pubs and restaurants

Related tags Manchester Coronavirus Fine dining Casual dining Pubs

Close to 4,000 Greater Manchester restaurants, pubs, bars and cafés are anxiously waiting to see if the region will move from Tier 3 to Tier 2 after infection rates fell below the average for England.

Hospitality businesses in the area have been unable to open for eat-in since England’s second lockdown came into force in early November.

After a disastrous year, businesses are keen to capitalise on what is traditionally one of the busiest periods for hospitality. 

With Westminster set to make a decision about Tier changes tomorrow at 11.30am (17 December), Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burham says there is a “clear case” for his region to move into Tier 2.

“We have seen steady decreases across all of our boroughs pretty much ever since the last tiering decision, to the point where we are now essentially below the England average across the 10 boroughs – we are at 150 cases on average per 100,000 people, England averages 180,” Burham told Radio 4’s Today programme this morning.  

Speaking later on Sky News, Burnham warned that many hospitality businesses in his region would never reopen if it stayed in Tier 3.

"This review is probably not going to be repeated for another month, so whatever decisions are made today will be in place for a month. And if we get to mid January with Greater Manchester still in tier three, there’ll be plenty of pubs and restaurants that will never reopen."

According to the real estate adviser Altus Group, current Tier 3 measures imposed upon the 10 Council areas, mean 3,905 pubs, bars, restaurants and cafes are closed although they are currently permitted sales by takeaway, click-and-collect, drive-through or delivery services.

Altus Group say a further 257 hotels and guest houses had to close save for a number of limited of exemptions.

Today (16 December) hospitality venues across London and large swathes of the south east have been forced to close yet again​ as those areas move from Tier 2 to Tier 3.

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