Letter from Mark Regarding Reopening

Dear all,

I write in advance of the re-opening of pubs in England on Saturday morning (July 4th) and selected
Scottish pubs on Monday July 6th. Wales and the rest of Scotland will not be too far behind.

It has been a long and at times painful process over the last 15 weeks to get back to this position and
I wanted to take the time to wish you all well as we embark upon the next stage of our industry’s
recovery from Coronavirus – the opening of the Great British Pub.

Personally I cannot wait to have a proper pint or three again and shall be doing so on Saturday.
There will be challenges that befall us in the coming months until the virus is behind us but rest
assured one day in the not too distant future – it will be gone and the hard work you have put in
through lockdown will bear fruit.

In the intervening weeks and months we must make sure that we operate our businesses as safely as
possible without sanitising the pub environment so much that it stops being a pub! It is a difficult
balance and undoubtedly trade will be impacted initially. If that is the case, we will be there to
support those of you that continue to work with us. I am firmly of the belief that the Trust Inns style
of community pubs are the best placed in the sector to lead the hospitality recovery and expect to
see it play out that way.

While we have had snippets of information drip fed to us over the past weeks it is only recently that
you have been given the Guidance you need to properly prepare your risk assessments – these are a
must do and I know your BDMs are working with you to make sure these are finalised and shared
with your staff. Once you have completed these you must display the declaration (we have attached
a copy for you) in the same way you do with your Premises Licence.

Contact tracing

Even as I write this we have not had the final clarification on ‘taking contact details’, however, I urge
you to do this in order that we play our part in controlling the virus should we be unfortunate
enough that it comes into our premises. We understand that;

• You must collect the contact data of your staff, customers and visitors which will include
  contractors on site for more than 15 minutes.
• The date, name and phone number and arrival/departure times of your customers and for
  groups the contact details of the “lead member” should be recorded.
• This can be done via electronic means or simply via a pen and a book as you take the first
  order at each table.
• This will be for all customers dining or drinking, indoors and outdoors
• The only exemption from this is for visitors collecting takeaways or those making short
  deliveries.
• If customers elect not to provide their data then you cannot compel them but we believe
  most people will understand the importance.
• This data collection and sharing with Test & Trace has been allowed an exemption under
  GDPR but this data must be destroyed after 21 days and cannot be used for any other
  purpose without specific consent.
• The authorities know that you will not get that perfectly right all the time and there will be
  gaps in the data but please do try your best as it will help the whole community to get rid of
  this virus.

Re-opening weekend

You are all aware of the focus that will be on pubs over the coming weeks and we do not want to see
pictures of people crammed into pubs in clear contravention of the social distancing requirements.
Therefore, I urge you to play it cautiously over the initial days as you and your customers adjust to
the new ground rules that you have implemented in your risk assessments.

In particular this weekend, if you feel the need, then do not hesitate to close earlier or restrict entry
later on if you sense you are unable to maintain control as customers have a few pints and adjust to
the new rules. More so than ever you will be aware of how important it is that you ensure customers
do not drink too much!

We know that pubs are not always busy and so some of the initial concerns will become less relevant
in a half empty pub through the week and you are all experienced enough to know your pubs and
your customers’ base to make the right judgements.

Let’s hope for some better weather over the next few weeks and that your tills are full with cash (or
contactless receipts!!).

Good luck!

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