Covid: How are pubs in Wales preparing for winter?

Pubs, restaurants and bars across Wales are preparing for an uncertain winter season, with further restrictions on hospitality an increasing possibility.

After Scotland banned the sale of alcohol indoors, Wales' health minister Vaughan Gething warned pubs could close if cases continue to rise.

So, how are those in the hospitality industry preparing for an unpredictable winter?

One village pub owner has said the coronavirus pandemic has been a great time to adapt, and earlier this week launched a specially-tailored menu to encourage people to work from his pub.

Rob Pearson, who owns the Gwaelod Y Garth Inn in Cardiff county, said things went "a bit crazy" when he launched "pub desk".

"I was looking at Facebook [at the response] and saying 'we're going to need a bigger pub'," he said.

"I had four in yesterday for pub desk and I think I've got four or five tomorrow.

"I've noticed other pubs have jumped on it straight away."

Mr Pearson is upgrading his wifi so it can be used across the whole pub, after which he hopes he will have up to 10 people working there.

Customers pay a fee to use the pub for work, which gets them access to the internet, any sandwich from the menu and unlimited tea and coffee.

David, a town planner, said he had used the pub desk three times in the scheme's first four days.

"In general having a co-working space that's outside of your own home is really useful," he said. "In our house we're having some renovation work so it was quite useful to pop out and work here.

"There's definitely a need for co-working spaces everywhere, in terms of having community spaces where you can pop in and and out of while working from home."

Mr Pearson said he was prepared for more changes to coronavirus regulations.

"We opened a village shop two days after we locked down because we took the decision to close and turned the bar into a village shop and provided bread, fish, steaks, ready meals and a takeaway service," he said.

"A pub has been a drinking place and now it needs to be a mixture [of several things]. When we were in lockdown and in a shop we attracted people who had never been to the pub before.

"If it means we can survive by selling coffee or working from home spaces, we will do it."

After pubs in Scotland were banned from serving alcohol indoors, Dr Giri Shankar from Public Health Wales said transmission in pubs in Wales was an "ongoing concern".

Juniper Place, which has restaurants in Swansea and Cardiff, has invested heavily in its outdoor seating areas in anticipation of changes to the rules.

Jo Roberts said the company, which also owns the Old Havana bars in both cities and the Marco Pierre White steakhouse in Swansea, has installed parasols with in-built heaters to encourage customers to sit outside over the colder months.

"We had to make this investment off the back of coronavirus," she said.

"It's going to be our saviour as a restaurant.

"The problem is in Wales we're not blessed with the best weather, but we've invested for our customers' enjoyment and experience.

"That outdoor space, we've seen people use it in all sorts of weather, so hopefully they will come and enjoy [in the winter]."

Rory Owen, who owns the White Horse in Builth Wells, Powys, set up a large outdoor marquee when the pub was allowed to reopen, but said that has been closed due to a lack of customers.

"It was open in the summer and was going quite well, but the further restrictions have come in and killed it off," he said.

"Trade is terrible. All the outgoings are the same, but the earnings just aren't there."

Ms Roberts also said there was "concern" over further restrictions being imposed on Juniper Place's bars and restaurants.

"We're very concerned, we're starting to implement procedures if we go back into lockdown again," she said.

"It's going to be devastating once again for the hospitality industry and we just have to react."

David Chapman, executive director of UK Hospitality in Wales, warned further restrictions at the end of the winter season could lead to as many as 40,000 redundancies in the hospitality sector in Wales.

"First of all there's a tremendous amount of resilience and adherence within this industry," he said.

"The numbers are frightening. Looking at the numbers, we're afraid there will be 40,000 redundancies.

"There are about 130,000 people in the industry in Wales. The longer the shutdowns are in place the worse it will be.

"The real problem is with conditions changing day-by-day. We were on a steady course in the middle of summer and we were in a very good position in the middle of August, but the double whammy for us is that changing of situation around the lockdown and restrictions coming in around the same time."

Currently, pubs in Wales are allowed to serve alcohol indoors, unlike in Scotland, but must finish serving at 22:00 BST.

That means people living in areas of Wales which are not subject to local lockdowns can meet up with up to six people from extended households indoors at a pub, cafe or restaurant.

Those in the 15 counties and one town which are in lockdown can only visit the pub indoors with members of their immediate household, as extended households have been banned.

But up to 30 people can still meet up outdoors, providing they stick to social distancing rules, whether they live in a locked down area or not.

An outdoor space can include awnings, gazebos or marquees, as long as they are open-sided. Any closed-sided marquee is treated as an indoor environment under Welsh Government rules.