Representatives of hospitality businesses in the island have given a lukewarm reception to the government announcement of further help for their business sector.

Geoff Joughin, chairman of the Licensed Victuallers Association, fears pubs could go to the wall and said he and his colleagues in the trade were ’not enamoured’ with the measure which they claim does not go far enough.

He spoke after it was announced the Business Premises Support Scheme - a grant payment based on the annual cost of commercial premises business rates - will be extended to eligible business as the island transitions to an unrestricted trading conditions over the next three months.

For each of the months of June, July and August, eligible applicants will receive a grant which is equivalent to their annual rates bill for each of their commercial premises. The support will be provided in one lump payment to cover the three months in order to streamline the process for applicants.

In order to be eligible, businesses and self-employed persons must declare that their turnover has been materially impacted by at least 25% against May 2019, and must operate from commercial premises.

Mr Joughin and other pub leaders have recently been involved in sometimes heated meetings about the issue and have met with government representatives.

He told the Examiner: ’We are not too enamoured with the deal.’

He said the deal ’sounds OK on the surface’ but he insisted that the reference to a 25% reduction on the turnover for May was not going to be helpful for many people in the industry. He added: ’We have to think and look at the bigger picture really and see where we go from this.’

Mr Joughin, who owns the Albert Hotel in Douglas, said: ’It’s very difficult for the Chief Minister to find an answer but we must find an answer for our industry because it needs help.’

His thoughts were echoed by another Douglas licensee who is pleading with government to help those in the hospitality industry ’get through’ this year.

Andy Saunders, who runs Quids Inn, claims salary support schemes help his employees but not the business as a whole.

Speaking about the new measures introduced by the government he said that it was not good enough.

He said: ’I don’t want profit, I want to survive. Let us just get through this difficult period. I run one of the most popular bars in the Isle of Man and I’m struggling’.

Mr Saunders along with Mr Joughin and other worried licensees say premises could ’go to the wall without support’.

A government spokesman said that, based on the number of expected applicants and average rates bills, it is expected this new hospitality support will provide in the region of £3million to eligible hospitality businesses.

Treasury Minister Alfred Cannan MHK, said: ’At a time when our island would normally be welcoming thousands of tourists to our shores, we recognise that the hospitality sector continues to be impacted by the residual effects of coronavirus.

’As part of our economic recovery, we are working on stimulus activity that will provide sustainable support for our domestic economy, and we look forward to launching these shortly, but we also appreciate the concerns our hospitality businesses have raised regarding more immediate sustenance to enable them to trade successfully over the next three months transition period.’