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The boss of the Everards brewery and pub business said sales halved last year due to months of lockdowns.

Stephen Gould, managing director of the Leicestershire brewer, said sales plummeted as the 154 pub estate was forced to close – or face restrictions – for nine months.

And he said trade was down a quarter during the Christmas week, picking up a little over New Year, as customers stayed home because of fears of the Omicron variant.

Mr Gould said:

• Everards suffered losses of £3.4 million in the year to September, down from £1.3 million a year before. That compares to a £4 million operating profit in the year pre-Covid

• December 2021 sales were down a fifth on the same month in 2019

• Turnover in the year to last September was £15 million – down from £19.1 million a year before that and £30.6 million in 2019

• Since the pandemic began Everards has cancelled £5.6 million of rent for its landlords – equal to 78 per cent of what it would have collected

Mr Gould said that, despite all that, the business was in a strong position – assuming there are no further lockdowns – with backing from the Everard family, money from the sale of 14 pubs to the Hawthorn pubs business last May, and support from all the Everards team.

He said: “For nine of the 12 months to September 2021 pubs were either fully closed or majorly restricted to trade.

“There was a period with restrictions on the number of people who could sit at a table or on going up to bars – and Christmas 2020 and January, February and March last year saw pubs completely closed.

“There were just three normal months for that full financial year.