GREENE King has called last orders on 26 of its sites while a further 53will temporarily close with their future remaining in the balance.
The move, which was announced earlier this week, puts around 800 staff across the 79 sites at risk of being made redundant, although it's hoped some of these workers will be redeployed.
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Below we explain what's happening to your local Greene King.
How many branches does Greene King have?
Firstly, it's important to note that Greene King is a group of different pub and restaurant brands, and Greene King pubs is just one of these brands.
Other outlets under the group include Chef & Brewer, Farmhouse Inns, Hungry Horse, Loch Fyne, Metropolitan Pub Company, and Wacky Warehouse.
In total, the Greene King group, which was founded in 1799, has more than 1,700 pubs and restaurants across the UK and it employs 38,000 workers.
Which Greene King branches are closing?
So far, Greene King has only revealed that 11 Loch Fyne restaurants are among the 26 sites closing for good.
It has also confirmed that other brands affected by the closures will be Greene King and Hungry Horse.
What are my redundancy rights?
BEFORE making you unemployed, your employer should still carry out a fair redundancy process.
You are entitled to be consulted on the redundancy lay-off first and to receive a statutory redundancy payment, as long as you've been working somewhere for at least two years.
How much you're entitled to depends on your age and length of service, although this is capped at 20 years. You'll get:
- Half a week’s pay for each full year you were under 22,
- One week’s pay for each full year you were 22 or older, but under 41,
- One and half week’s pay for each full year you were 41 or older.
Sadly, you won't be entitled to a payout if you've been working for your employer for fewer than two years.
There should be a period of collective consultation as well as time for individual ones if your employer wants to make 20 or more employees redundant within 90 days or each other.
You are also entitled to appeal the decision by claiming unfair dismissal within three months of being let go.
We've asked for a full list of both permanent and temporary closures but Greene King says it won't be able to provide this until consultations with affected staff are concluded.
It's unclear how long this might take as statutory redundancy notice periods vary depending on how long you've worked for your employer.
Why is Greene King closing pubs?
Greene King blames the closures on a slide in profits after a 10pm curfew was imposed on the entertainment industry in England from September 24.
The government crackdown is designed to curb the spread of coronavirus as cases continue to soar.
But it's feared further job losses may be on the cards as just this week Nicola Sturgeon announced a 16 day "circuit-breaker" lockdown.
Under these new rules, pubs and restaurants in Scotland have been ordered to stop serving alcohol inside between 6pm on Friday October 9 to Sunday October 25.
Meanwhile, venues inside Scotland's so-called "central belt", covering around 3.4million people in and around Edinburgh and Glasgow, will be ordered to shut their doors completely.
Pubs in England were forced to close their doors back in March as a result of the coronavirus lockdown.
They were only allowed to reopen again from July 4 in England – as long as they followed coronavirus safety measures. Reopenings in Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales varied as coronavirus is a devolved issue.
At the time, Greene King showed The Sun around its new look bars, which can only operate at 60% capacity due to social distancing.
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