Operators offer up sites as vaccine hubs

BrewDog CEO James Watt said the group was in talks with the British and Scottish governments about using its bars as vaccination centres.

He said: "We are in now talks with the Minister For Vaccine Deployment Nadhim Zahawi and [Scottish First Minister] Nicola Sturgeon.

"We have offered all BrewDog bars to help with a quick roll out of the vaccine, for free. We have waiting areas, huge refrigerators and ace people who can help organise."

Loungers chairman and co-founder Alex Reilley has made a similar offer. 

Following BrewDog's announcement, he wrote on Twitter: "Great thinking, as always, from BrewDog, and one that we’d love to also support - 170 sites across England & Wales (the majority in suburbs and small towns)."

Reilley has subsequently added that Loungers operates sites in a 'significant number' of the areas listed as not currently having a vaccine hub including Newark, Bedford, Aylesbury, Nuneaton and Mansfield.

"We have large venues and extensive refrigeration - we’re here to help Nadhim Zahawi, you just need to ask," he said.

Both BrewDog and Loungers were both forced to close the limited number of UK sites they still had open on New Year's Eve (31 December), after Tier 3 or 4 measures were imposed across all areas of mainland England.

UKHospitality chief executive Kate Nicholls has also put out a call to the Government to work with businesses in the sector to help roll out the vaccine, saying hospitality 'stands ready to help'.

On Twitter she wrote: "We have large empty hotels in rural and town centre locations which are Covid secure (they housed and fed front line workers and convalescent patients), with trained first aiders and plenty of fridges. We can be vaccination stations."