Pub owners hit hardest by Covid measures

Of all catering entrepreneurs, pub owners were relatively hit the hardest by the measures taken to curb the spread of the coronavirus, according to research by bank Knab, ANP reports.

The researchers looked at the transactions of 1,300 catering businesses. They found that from the first lockdown in March up to and including the recent closure at end October, catering businesses on average saw revenues drop by 18 percent. Among pub owners, this decrease was nearly 25 percent.

According to the researchers, this likely has to do with the fact that pubs can't fall back to take-out and delivery services as easily as restaurants. Pubs also lost income on usually lucrative days like King's Day.

Government support measures were not included in these calculations. More than half of catering establishments make use of one or more support measure, according to the news wire.