Suffolk pub operator calls for changes to financial support scheme for businesses during coronavirus lockdown

A pub company is calling on the Government to change the threshold for a support scheme, which would allow access to a £25,000 grant during the coronavirus lockdown.

While praising the response to help businesses to pay staff, Gusto Pronto, which operates The Crown in Hartest and The Fox in Bulmer Tye, believes the criteria for the Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Grant needs adjusting.

It awards £25,000 grants to businesses with a property that has a rateable value of more than £15,000 and less than £51,000.

A national campaign, called Raise The Bar, has been launched asking the Government to raise the threshold from £51,000 to £150,000 to ‘save tens of thousands of businesses’.

David Marjoram, who runs Gusto Pronto with wife Roxane, said: “Raise The Bar is really important for big swathes of our sector.”

They have received £25,000 grants for two of their pubs, including The Crown, but three of their pubs, including The Fox, are ineligible.

But they still have overheads to pay, which Mr Marjoram estimates is about £600 to £700 a week per site.

Asked how sustainable the situation was in the long term, he said: “It clearly wouldn’t be. There’s too many variations to give a clear answer, but we will either need significant Government support, the ability to reopen quickly without restriction or take on massive debts.”

He said the idea of taking on significant debt was “very intimidating” as people may be cautious about going to pubs when they reopen.