Firms moving into tier four: Devastated and disappointed

Firms moving into tier four: Devastated and disappointed

Thousands of businesses across the UK will now have to close or extend closures as multiple regions join the toughest tier of Covid restrictions from Thursday.Under tier four rules, non-essential shops, beauty salons and hairdressers must close, and people are limited to meeting in a public outdoor place with their household, or one other person.We talk to four firms affected.'It will be devastating for many firms'image copyrightJW Leesimage captionPub chain boss William Lees-Jones says businesses don't dare to take risks or prepare to reopenWilliam Lees-Jones, managing director of JW Lees, a 192-year-old pub chain in the North West, says the shift will be "devastating" for many firms.Already in tier three, he was forced to close over Christmas and said this alone "cost each of our pubs £4,000 in food waste alone.""Before Christmas we restocked all our sites. That cost us a lot so we won't take that gamble again.""Our concern as you get into January and February is being able to plan any sort of reopening is the challenge.""Pubs are shut in tier three and they're shut in Tier four," he tells the BBC. "All our pubs remain shut with very limited compensation from the government."'I'm disappointed, but not surprised'image