It isn't an exaggeration to say that the hospitality industry in Northern Ireland is done, as we know it.
Because of COVID - but also - because of licensing.
And both I consider equally responsible.

A thread.
1/13

I explained how the liquor licence process in NI works in a recent thread:
Here it is for reference
2/13 https://twitter.com/belfastbarman/status/1283764110358978562?s=20

As pubs and bars close, the licence holders will undoubtedly have to sell their licences. They won't be bought by people looking to open up pubs right now.
Clearly. Just look around - who wants to open a pub in this place these days?
3/13

Those licences will be bought by grocers. By supermarkets. By spar and centra, mace, lidl, tesco, and the rest.

Between 2000 and 2017 the number of off-licence premises in NI increased by over 200.
That's 200 pubs that have died and won't reopen.
4/13

Currently, on Osborne King's website - one of the commercial property agencies in NI (I repeat: Just ONE of them) lists 25 Licences or licensed properties for sale or recently sold.

As the impact of this virus continues to grow, this figure will undoubtedly increase.
5/13

The owner of Dan's Bar in West Belfast said on BBC NI this morning "I think we're done. In a couple of weeks if it doesn't change we'll have to sell our bar"

But to who? Someone wanting to open a bar during a pandemic?
Or to a grocer, to a supermarket, to off-sales.
6/13

Recessions and depressions often lead to opportunities at the other side.

Because of NI's licensing legislation, where will the opportunities be for people in the hospitality sector? Want to open a pub? Good bloody luck.
7/13

I'm reminded of when Mike Ashley was asked by a HoC select ctte "how can the high street be saved"
And he responded, "the mainstream high streets as we think about it today are already dead."

That is genuinely the NI Hospitality Sector.
8/13

It has been blindly walking that way for years, by the insider-trading nature of licensing. By the blockers set up to prevent disruption of the sector.
Almost by design the NI Hospitality Sector has been so insular & resistant to evolving-it's the architect of its own death.
9/13

With publicans across the land (And Hospitality Ulster) - totally resistant to change, lest their sacred text - the Alcohol License - no longer be the 'retirement cheque in the safe'. It's been a tactic - NOT a strategy.
10/13

Can it be fixed? Maybe. If there's a complete overhaul of the Licensing system.
11/13 https://twitter.com/belfastbarman/status/1304761194616688642?s=20

If you want to be able to enjoy NI's incredible hospitality sector in the future, if you think our place is stronger for it, ask your elected reps, Cllrs, MLAs, MPs, ask them for a FULL reform of hospitality sector. Not just piece-meal to protect existing interests.
12/13

The Arts sector is decimated right now also. The arts are intertwined with the hospitality sector. If the hospitality sector isn't PROPERLY fixed, if ballet dancers don't retrain as cyber analysts, then they'll be performing in Lidls and Eurospars in just a few years time.
13/13