Land of hops and glory! Joy as pubs and shops throw open their doors at last

Up and down the land, shopkeepers were adding the finishing touches to their stores, landlords were testing their beer and restaurants were stocking their kitchens.

Yesterday’s frenzy of preparation was all for today – dubbed the ‘Glorious Twelfth’ – when beer gardens, shops, hairdressers and gyms will join libraries, zoos and nail salons in reopening.

The vaccine programme coupled with the ‘palpable sense of excitement’ is expected to make this post-lockdown reopening the strongest yet, experts said. Customers are predicted to spend £4.5billion this week.

A barman is seen pulling a pint at a pub as they prepare to open their gardens after months of restrictions

More than half of hospitality businesses that are opening have splashed out to make outdoor areas bigger, spending an average of £9,040 on each venue, according to industry group UKHospitality. 

Pubs have been flooded with bookings, with the British Beer and Pub Association predicting the nation will get through 15million pints this week. 

For many venues it will be the first revenue since England’s January 5 lockdown. The unpredictable weather remained the number one worry. 

Pubs have been flooded with bookings, with the British Beer and Pub Association predicting the nation will get through 15million pints this week. A drayman is seen delivering a key to the White Horse pub in Hertford

Henry Cripps, from the Three Oaks pub in Gerrards Cross, Buckinghamshire, said: ‘We realise that almost everything for the next five weeks is weather dependent so we have everything crossed for sun. We couldn’t wait to see our regulars, so we have invested heavily in our garden.’

Some restrictions have eased since pubs were last open. Customers will not need to order a substantial meal with alcoholic drinks and there will be no 10pm curfew. But Boris Johnson has postponed his planned celebratory pint because of Prince Philip’s death on Friday.

However, a green group has warned the rush to drink and dine outdoors will cause a spike in air pollution from gas burning patio heaters. Oliver Lord, of Environmental Defence Fund Europe, said: ‘We need to support the hospitality sector to bounce back safely and use electric heaters, which are far cleaner and more efficient.’

Hairdressers are also booked up for weeks. Joanna Hansford, 46, who runs a high-end salon in Mayfair with her mother Jo, has 2,000 clients booked in for April and was opening at 5am this morning. 

She said: ‘We’re very excited, it’s been a long lockdown and it has been a lot tougher.’

Lesleigh Mason prepares tables at The Terrace Cafe and Bar in Plymouth, Devon, ahead of the company’s reopening tomorrow