Another Manchester bar has decided to temporarily close its doors, after hospitality's 10pm curfew has left its revenues depleted.
Oscars Bar, a late-night cocktail bar on Canal Street, has lost more three hours a day of trading, which its owners say amounts to around 60 per cent of its takings.
They have also said that it's cheaper for them to lock up shop for now - while still paying their staff - than it is to cover the running costs by opening.
It's the second bar in the city centre to announce a temporary closure, after Sandbar said that the curfew 'would inevitably destroy us'.
The controversial curfew measure was brought in by the government from September 24 and has been widely criticised by hospitality operators and trade bodies.
Co-owner Simon Rouski said he is now forced to call last orders at a time that the bar - which is usually open until 1am - would normally be just getting to its busiest.
Oscars was already under strain, with social distancing reducing its indoor capacity by around 75 per cent, but Simon says they're now trying to limit their losses.
He said: "We've got a great following and some great, loyal customers, but just not enough footfall.
"With reduced footfall, reduced capacity and reduced trading hours, we're now in a position where we've just got to preserve what cash is in the bank and protect the long-term future of the business.
"Basically we're just limiting our losses.
"It's actually cheaper for us to remain closed now.
"By the time we've opened, we've got to pay our security staff, stock, utilities, the numbers just don't stack up.
"It's disheartening. We've got five staff, and every time we've asked them to adapt to something new, they've done it.
"They've implemented every change, the cleaning, telling people to wear masks, and that's not easy. They're constantly having to tell people off for not following rules, sometimes it's people making a genuine mistake, and they feel like the fun police.
"We're making sure our staff are paid and we just want to protect them as well as the business.
"We'll reassess it at the end of the month - who knows what will change.
"If the curfew gets lifted sooner then we might reopen sooner."
Simon says the curfew is unsubstantiated and hopes it will be reversed.
He said: "We're not asking for money, we run a business and we're in it to look after ourselves, we just need the trading hours to be able to do that.
"Bars opened July 4, the R rate continued to go down. We had Eat Out to Help Out and the R rate still barely changed.
"Schools and universities went back and it's gone through the roof.
"We've spent thousands - cleaning, PPE, signage, anything you can think of. We've spent money to make sure that we're operating safely and protecting our staff and our customers, and yet we feel like we're the ones being blamed.
"I just don't know where the evidence comes from to say that it's the hospitality industry that's causing these issues."
