Fare deal! Uber offers half-price rides to 150 pubs reopening from April 12 to help get England’s boozers back on their feet. Is YOUR local on the list?
- Ride-sharing app launches campaign to boost the struggling hospitality sector
- 30,000 customers can enjoy 50% discount, up to £6, using the app until May 16
- Nationwide poll suggests 13 million adults will be visiting the pub next week
Uber is offering half-price rides to 150 pubs across the country in a bid to get locked-down Brits back out drinking when venues finally reopen next week.
The ride-sharing app has launched a campaign to help get England’s boozers back on their feet, with the wider hospitality sector decimated by restrictions in recent months.
Many will already be chomping at the bit to return to the pub, but as an added incentive, Uber is offering a 50 per cent discount, up to £6, to the first 30,000 riders between April 12 and May 16.
It comes as industry figures warned today that drinkers should take cash to the pub due to ‘control freak’ government rules banning the taking of payments inside.
Landlords fear that patchy rural broadband and mobile signal means that card machines will be difficult to use in pub gardens, creating the prospect of punters not being able to legally pay for pints.
The Sill and West in Portsmouth is one the 150 pubs to benefit from the Uber offer when it reopens its pub garden next week
The Crooked Billet in London is one the 150 pubs to benefit from the Uber offer when it reopens its pub garden next week
The Hare and Hounds in Bath is one the 150 pubs to benefit from the Uber offer when it reopens its pub garden next week
Meanwhile, some pubs are so desperate to serve locals from Monday that they are opening up at one minute past midnight.
The Kentish Belle, a micropub in Bexley, South East London, has been taking bookings for tables between 0.01am and 3am on April 12 after obtaining a licence to operate as a one-off in the early hours of the morning.
Other pubs have also been busy getting tents and marquees ready for the big reopening, while the chain Marston’s this week reaffirmed plans to open around 700 beer gardens and other outdoor spaces over the coming days as restrictions ease.
The plea for punters to bring cash is also due to some pubs having licensing restrictions that prevent the taking of payments outdoors – leaving them caught in a net of contradicting regulations with no way to open.
Ministers are looking at changing the rules before Monday so that payments can be taken inside as a ‘last resort’ when card payment ‘isn’t an option’, according to an internal memo seen by the Telegraph.
But drinkers are being urged to consider taking cash anyway so they do not need to leave their tables to pay.
The reopening comes after it emerged this week that pubs and restaurants could face having to decide whether to operate profitably by scrapping social-distancing in exchange for having to police Covid-19 vaccine passports themselves.
The Government has said the passport schemes could be introduced in hospitality settings in return for ‘reduced social distancing requirements’ – but industry leaders say this will leave them with a ‘Hobson’s choice’.
Plans for vaccine passports – which were once rejected by the Government as ‘discriminatory’ – have sparked a huge cross-party backlash, with 72 MPs signing a pledge to oppose them, including more than 40 Conservatives.
The Prime Minister has insisted pubs and restaurants will not need to introduce the schemes when they reopen outdoors next Monday or when they first permit customers indoors, probably on May 17.
But a review suggests they could ‘play a role in reducing social distancing requirements’ later in the summer, with a document confirming the NHS is already working on both digital and paper systems for the scheme.
Water Witch in Lancaster is one the 150 pubs to benefit from the Uber offer when it reopens its pub garden next week
The Judges Lodging in York is one the 150 pubs to benefit from the Uber offer when it reopens its pub garden next week
The Rose and Crown in Oxford is one the 150 pubs to benefit from the Uber offer when it reopens its pub garden next week
The Kentish Belle in Bexley, South East London, has been taking bookings for tables between 0.01am and 3am next Monday
A graphic shows how the vaccine passport could work when rolled out across the country
Uber has partnered with The Good Pub Guide to compile a list of the top 150 venues across the country which have outdoor spaces and can be chosen as destinations using the offer.
These include Highbury Vaults in Bristol, The Perch in Oxford and Black Lion in Brighton.
Brad Francis, manager of Highbury Vaults, told MailOnline: ‘It’s great to hear of this offer to help out the industry, but unless customers have reserved a table I’m afraid they’ll be disappointed as we’re fully booked for all of the first week.
‘Ever since it was announced that we could open on April 12, it’s just gone mental, and the support from people has been fantastic.
‘The last few months have been completely soul destroying, so we can’t wait to welcome everyone back on Monday.’
To take advantage of the offer, users should enter the promo code THEPUBAWAITS in their app before booking a trip.
It comes as a nationwide poll revealed that 13 million adults will be visiting the pub next week, with half citing supporting the struggling sector as the reason for their visit.
Half (48%) of people said they felt safe returning to the pub, with 74% happy to sit outdoors to help stop the spread of Covid.
Meanwhile, more than half (52%) said pubs reopening makes them feel as though they are returning to normal life.
Jamie Heywood, Regional General Manager for Northern and Eastern Europe, Uber, said: ‘As the country slowly starts to unlock and outdoor hospitality reopens, we want to play our role and support the pubs, restaurants and cafes across England that have been shut for many months.
‘That is why we are offering users 50% discounted trips to those who are looking to venture out and return to their favourite local, as we all look towards brighter times ahead.’
Uber’s list of 150 pubs with outdoor space reopening from Monday
Hare & Hounds, Bath
Bath Brew House, Bath
Royal Oak, Bath
Physician, Birmingham
Old Moseley Arms, Birmingham
Plough, Birmingham
Purecraft Bar & Kitchen, Birmingham
Wellington, Birmingham
Physician, Birmingham
The Railway Bell, Brighton
Black Lion, Brighton
Caxton Arms, Brighton
Cricketers, Brighton
Daddy LongLegs, Brighton
Highbury Vaults, Bristol
Alma, Bristol
Gloucester Old Spot, Bristol
Grain Barge, Bristol
Inn on the Green, Bristol
Kensington Arms, Bristol
Old Harkers Arms, Chester
Bear & Billet, Chester
Boathouse, Chester
Coach House, Chester
Oakfield, Chester
Pied Bull, Chester
Alexandra, Derby
Brunswick, Derby
Grove, Huddersfield
Rat & Ratchet, Huddersfield
Borough, Lancaster
The Sun, Lancaster
Water Witch, Lancaster
Beck and Call, Leeds
Grove, Leeds
Kirkstall Bridge, Leeds
Whitelocks, Leeds
Britannia, Leicester
Forge, Leicester
Globe, Leicester
Dog & Bone, Lincoln
Jolly Brewer, Lincoln
Red Lion, Lincoln
Dead Crafty Beer, Liverpool
Baltic Fleet, Liverpool
Thomas Rigbys, Liverpool
Alexandra, London
Alfred Tennyson, London
Anglesea Arms, London
Atlas, London
Beau Brummell, London
Bell & Crown, London
Black Friar, London
Blue Anchor, London
The Abbeville, London
Camden Head, London
Carpenters Arms, London
Case is Altered, London
Cask Pub & Kitchen, London
Coach & Horses Barnes, London
Coach Makers Arms, London
Crooked Billet, London
Crooked Well, London
Crown, London
The City Barge, London
Dovetail, London
George, London
Goldsmiths Arms, London
Grazing Goat, London
Guildford Arms, London
Hare & Hounds, London
Ivy House, London
Jerusalem Tavern, London
Jolly Gardeners, London
Kings Head, London
Lamb Tavern, London
Latchmere, London
Lighterman, London
London Apprentice, London
Lord Northbrook, London
Market Porter, London
Mayflower, London
Morpeth Arms, London
Mr Fogg’s Tavern, London
Mute Swan, London
Nightingale, London
Oak, London
Old Nun’s Head, London
Old Orchard, London
Olde Mitre, London
Orange, London
Park Tavern, London
Pear Tree, London
Pilot, London
Porterhouse, London
Princess Victoria, London
Railway Tavern, London
Red Lion, London
The Roebuck, London
Rose and Crown, London
Thomas Cubitt, London
The Ship, London
Spaniards Inn, London
Tapping The Admiral, London
Thatched House, London
Two Doves, London
The Union Tavern, London
Victoria, London
Windsor Castle, London
The White Cross, London
The White Horse, London
Jolly Coopers, London
The Woodman, London
Wharf, Manchester
Dukes, Manchester
Font, Manchester
Mr Thomas’s Chop House, Manchester
New Oxford, Manchester
Oast House, Manchester
Old Wellington, Manchester
The Bluebell, Newcastle
Dick Turpin, Newcastle
The Falcons Nest, Newcastle
Fat Cat, Norwich
Old Green Dragon, Nottingham
Radcliffe, Nottingham
The Bear in Oxford
Perch, Oxford
Punter, Oxford
Rose & Crown, Oxford
Chequers, Oxford
Head of the River, Oxford
Isis Farmhouse, Oxford
Charters, Peterborough
Old Customs House, Portsmouth
Bridge Tavern, Portsmouth
Still & West, Portsmouth
Ranmoor Inn, Sheffield
Rising Sun, Sheffield
Sheffield Tap, Sheffield
Glebe, Stoke
Bulls Head, Stoke
Harrys Bar, Wakefield
Great Western, Wolverhampton
Hail to the Ale, Wolverhampton
Butchers Arms, Worcester
Chequers, Worcester
Nags Head, Worcester
Plough & Harrow, Worcester
Judges Lodging, York
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