Prime minister Boris Johnson has announced a series of restrictions called Plan B that could once again cause complications for the hospitality industry.
After various venues closed during the first lockdown, the hospitality adapted to changing restrictions.
The portion of businesses that were temporarily closed fell from 81% in the spring of 2020 to 54% in the early 2021 lockdown, according to the Office for National Statistics.
After a string of normality and the revival of the industry since ‘Freedom Day’ on the 19th of July, the current restrictions leave a level of uncertainty once again.
The implementation of vaccine passports mandatory for venues over 500 capacity introduces more pressures for the hospitality industry, particularly the nightclub scene.
Distrikt Bar, located on Duncan Street in Leeds, is just one hospitality venue of many which has had to adapt to maintain their business throughout the ever-changing restrictions.
The 200-capacity venue put out a statement on their social media accounts about their stance on the Plan B announcement saying:
“To those concerned about the ‘news’, please bear in mind that Distrikt is a bar, not a nightclub. We are a smaller venue and therefore will not require any passports, nor will we be implementing any new ridiculous rules that cause anything other than disruption.”
According to their social media manager, Matt Bowles, the post received over 10,000 shares on Facebook, many of the responses praising the bar for standing up to the government’s ever-changing stance on restrictions.
One user said, “Good for you, please encourage other local businesses to do the same!”.