Pub giant Greene King has said it plans to cut around 800 jobs and shut dozens of pubs and restaurants after trade slumped following the 10pm hospitality curfew.
The company said it will keep 79 of its sites shut for the time being, with around one third of these closures expected to be permanent, PA media reports.
It called on the government to provide support for the hospitality sector while tightened restrictions, such as the recent 10pm curfew, remain in place.
A Greene King spokesperson said: “The continued tightening of the trading restrictions for pubs, which may last another six months, along with the changes to government support was always going to make it a challenge to reopen some of our pubs.
“Therefore, we have made the difficult decision not to reopen 79 sites, including the 11 Loch Fyne restaurants we announced last week.
“Around one-third will be closed permanently and we hope to be able to reopen the others in the future.
“We are working hard with our teams to try and find them a role in another of our pubs wherever possible.
“We urgently need the government to step in and provide tailored support to help the sector get through to the spring and prevent further pub closures and job losses.”
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