Central London pubs to be hit hard by work from home guidance

A number of central London pubs stand to lose out big from the imminent new table service only rule and the revised working from home guidance, bosses have warned.

Pubs and restaurants in England will have to start closing at 10pm from Thursday and firms will be restricted to offering table service only, as part of government efforts to tackle a rise in coronavirus cases.

In a further blow, people have been told to work from home if they can. Pubs in the West End and City are already struggling since reopening from lockdown, with few tourists and office workers in town.

Pub giant Greene King’s boss Nick Mackenzie said: “Alongside losing a vital trading period the table-service-only rule will hit drinking pubs that rely on outside standing areas for customers, which is one of the great attractions of a central London pub.”

He added that his firm had been planning to reopen some more venues in the capital in the coming weeks, “but this is now in doubt”.