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Retail & Consumer

Greene King to axe 800 jobs as coronavirus restrictions trigger pub closures

The pub and restaurant giant will close dozens of its pubs as a result of tough restrictions

Greene King

Pub and restaurant Greene King has said it will shut dozens of pubs with the loss of 800 jobs after being hit by tighter restrictions in the face of the pandemic.

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.

It called on the Government to provide urgent support for the hospitality sector while tightened restrictions, such as the recent 10pm curfew, remain in place.

Greene King, which was bought by a Hong-Kong real estate giant last year, is one of the º£½ÇÊÓÆµ's biggest hospitality firms, with 3,100 pubs, restaurants and hotels across the º£½ÇÊÓÆµ.

A spokeswoman for Greene King, headquartered in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, 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.