Salopian to stay shut as landlord wishes other pubs good luck
The landlord of a flood-ravaged bar has wished pubs the best of luck ahead of reopening this weekend - though he won't be back until December.
The Salopian Bar in Smithfield Road, Shrewsbury suffered serious damage in the February flooding disaster and little has been done during lockdown as landlord Ollie Parry needs to wait for his insurance company to fully assess the situation.
While many pubs are to finally welcome people back for the first time since March, The Salopian will remain closed for now. But Ollie insisted they will be back.
"Good luck to the pubs that are getting going again. It's going to be busy," he said. "For us nothing has happened during lockdown. We won't be back open until December."
While it may be frustrating to wait, Ollie admitted the pandemic may have somewhat worked out in The Salopian's favour financially.
The pub has been entitled to business support from the Government during a time when they would have been unlikely to be trading anyway due to the flood damage.
Ollie hopes the relaunch of the pub trade works out well for local hostelries, and admits it would have been tricky to stay afloat if he had to open under new restrictions.
"We would only be able to have about 40 people in with the distancing rules. On the weekend we have 120 in. Just 40 people wouldn't be enough to pay people's wages.
"I wish all the best to the pubs that are starting up again, I think it could be tough and we'll probably lose some."
