Our most recent QuickPoll asked when people think they will be able to 'nip down to the pub' again with friends.
The pub is a quintessentially British aspect of everyday lives for many in the UK and with the pandemic enforcing harsh restrictions on hospitality, many haven’t seen the inside of their local watering hole since before Christmas.
Others who are particularly vulnerable have stayed away considerably longer. We asked our Judges, and the general public, what they thought.
YourPoll's results reveal that almost 20% of people who answered the poll* think that pubs will be open again for people to meet up with others outside of their household in May.
The first of May lands on a Saturday, so if the majority are accurate in their guesses, we’d be in for one mighty May Day Bank Holiday!
Whilst many were optimistic with their predictions, the results, when separated by age, revealed something else! It seems 46–55-year-olds were much more pessimistic and 28% per cent of them didn’t think we would see the pubs open until at least 2022.
Whilst we hope this isn’t true, this age group were not afraid to hold back on voicing their reasoning behind this opinion on Facebook:
What are people saying on social media?
Whereas the 65+ demographic made it clear that for them, safety first is a priority. Over 20% of their results indicated that the pubs won’t reopen until after December 2021.
What do our statistics say?
Over 75 people voted for “later” indicating that although some people “may” (pun intended) think the pubs have a chance of re-opening sooner, it doesn’t seem like a reality for most.
As we begin February of 2021 it seems that good progress is being made with the rollout of vaccinations across the UK, but due to restrictions, some pubs have remained closed since March 2020.
Social distancing regulations have made it impossible for older establishments with very small venue space to open safely.
In addition, the rules stating that alcohol must only be served alongside a meal has meant that pubs without the capability to serve food were forced to close once again.
The uncertain state of the country has caused devastating stock losses for some establishments, losing out on hundreds of pounds of wasted food and drink.
Although we hope for the best for the heart of British culture, it's inevitable that some pubs won't survive much longer.
*This QuickPoll was taken from a random selection of 359 people from the UK and is not a sample representing the population as a whole.
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