Coronavirus: Pub opens at midnight as lockdown eases

With pubs in England being allowed to reopen on Saturday we take a look at two venues with very different plans.

Pubs and restaurants closed their doors suddenly on Friday 20 March, but with lockdown restrictions easing it is time for many to get the beer flowing again.

One of the first to throw open its doors will be Showtime, which boasts that it is "Huddersfield's Premier Sport Bar".

Wasting no time, it is due to open one minute after midnight on Saturday morning until 03.30 BST.

Meanwhile, Docks Beers, a brewery and tap room in Grimsby, has decided not open at all on Saturday.

Adam Snowball, managing director of Showtime, said: "Everyone has got used to the 'new world' but I think everyone should be allowed to let their hair down a bit.

"I think people will want to get back to a slice of normal with some safe fun."

The city-centre venue normally holds about 550 people but that will be restricted to about 175 people at their midnight launch due to social distancing measures.

Customers will also have to give their details to staff to make contact tracing easier if another customer tests positive for the virus.

"Opening at midnight for three and a half hours seemed a good test of our new systems", said Adam Snowball

Ian Snowball, Adam's father and the bar's co-founder, said: "I wasn't sure about opening at first but the new processes are in place and we have worked closely with the police.

"Now somebody has to jump in the water, we have to get the economy back working."

Will Douglas, co-owner of Docks Beers, Grimsby, is adopting a "wait and see" attitude after weighing up the pros and cons of opening on the first day .

"We don't feel it's the right timing for us", he said.

The craft beer taproom is expected to open later in the month but the company wanted to "make sure all our processes are in place".

"We don't know how this weekend is doing to go, we would rather just open with a bit more time and planning to make sure we don't have a scrum at the bar", he added.

Meanwhile, Docks Beers continues with online sales and, until the tap room reopens, has found a novel form of diversification.

It plans to help to organise a drive-in cinema at Cleethorpes Town FC, with space for up to 100 cars.

Whilst both venues are very different each is facing up to the challenge of running a business in a world that has been greatly changed by Covid-19.

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