Statement from Managing Director of Hall & Woodhouse, Matt Kearsey: Response to Coronavirus – 21th March 2020
Hall & Woodhouse exists to make people’s day and enrich our communities from generation to generation. Even in our 243-year history, these are unprecedented times and we need to act decisively.
Managed Houses
We have taken the agonising decision to close the doors temporarily of all 52 H&W managed public houses. These temporary closures will take effect on a phased basis over the course of the next week.
The action we are taking we believe is the right thing to do for the moment for everyone in the communities that we serve in light of the Government advice for people not to visit pubs. In our history we have faced many challenges (including World Wars), but we have always kept our doors open. That is why it is with a heavy heart that we make this decision; but we do it to protect our teams and our guests from the risk of spreading the COVID-19 virus. Our current plan is to continue to retain our teams, albeit on reduced remuneration with extra support available for those in need from the Woodhouse Trust (established many years ago by the family to support current and past team members). Hopefully the Government will follow our lead and provide support for people in this situation.
Business Partnerships
We are also supporting our Business Partners who rent 130 of our pubs to run their own businesses. We announced some days ago as a first step, amongst other things, a 100% rent holiday for a month. Together with Government action on rates, this removes the vast majority of fixed costs for these pubs. As they are running their own businesses, it is up to individual Business Partners as to whether they keep their pubs open.
At the Brewery
We will continue to brew beer in Blandford to supply the off trade and those Business Partner pubs that remain open. We are following Government guidelines as to working from home for our support offices. Our current plan is that we continue to employ all our teams but inevitably to do so we will all have to pull together and make sacrifices, with the Directors and Shareholders taking the lead.
We are now focussing on the immediate future and how we can continue to make people’s day and enrich our communities in new ways during the temporary closure of our pubs. We will also ensure that we are well prepared to re-open rapidly when it is right to do so.
Anthony Woodhouse, Chairman and Matt Kearsey, Managing Director of Hall & Woodhouse
ENDS
Note to editors:
Hall & Woodhouse is an independent Dorset family company that brews award winning Badger Ales and runs an estate of high-quality pubs in the south of England.
The company was founded in 1777 by Charles Hall, a Dorset farmer, who opened a Brewery in the village of Ansty. More than 60 years on, his son Robert (who inherited the brewery) brought Edward Woodhouse into the business as his commercial partner. Edward fell in love with, and married, Charles Hall’s grand-daughter – Hannah Dodge. Hall & Woodhouse was born.
Hall & Woodhouse has a collection of 180 beautiful pubs, stretching from Bristol to Exeter, London to Brighton. Their award-winning range of Badger bottled ales are stocked nationally in leading supermarkets.
Family owned with Mark Woodhouse and Anthony Woodhouse as the current seventh generation stewards, the business is proud to be a leading independent regional brewer, with an established estate of 180 beautiful pubs across the south of England.
Hall & Woodhouse is a values-led business where its team are at the heart of everything it aspires to.
Please visit www.hall-woodhouse.co.uk
for more information. For press enquiries contact:
Shona Race at Liz Lean PR
DDI: 01202 112036
Reception: 01202 701828
22nd March 2020