Greene King extends 90% rent concessions

Greene King has announced it will be continuing its rent support for tenants during the latest lockdown, with tied tenants receiving 90% rent concessions.

Following the government’s announcement of grants of up to £9,000 for individual hospitality businesses, the pub and hotel group wrote to all of its 1,000 tenants to confirm the additional support.

This brings the total financial support for tenants to more than £25m since the onset of the pandemic in March 2020.

Wayne Shurvinton, Greene King Pub Partners’ managing director, said: “The great British pub has been in a fight for its survival since the first lockdown in March 2020. We have stood shoulder to shoulder with our partners since that date and we are determined to keep doing all we can to support them now.

“However, reducing rents alone will not be enough and without further government support, pubs will continue losing money every week while they remain closed. The latest grants are a good step in the right direction but with no date for pubs to reopen, they will soon vanish on other overheads and outstanding bills.”

He added: “Pubs need guarantees of further long-term support from government, such as an extension of the current VAT cut for hospitality and a continuation of the current business rates relief.

“As it stands, both of these would come to an end at around the point in the spring when it looks like pubs could finally be able to reopen. This could be the cruellest blow of all to hard-working publicans who reopen their pubs to welcome customers back in and suddenly see costs spiral.”