‘The billionaires have won’: English pubs forced to close after owners demand full rent for lockdown

Paul Michelmore, in front of the Harrison pub in London, says he faces bills of more than £99,000. Photograph: Andy Hall/The Observer

A pub landlord company owned by billionaire Tory donors has been accused of pushing pubs into bankruptcy after demanding tenants pay full rent owed from the months during the Covid lockdowns.

The Wellington Pub Company, owned by David and Simon Reuben, offered its estimated 850 tenants a Covid discount on condition that they extended their leases for five years.