THE boss of a sandwich bar says she will be finished if office workers do not return to work after the second coronavirus lockdown.

Café owners have expressed their confusion over the new tier system announced by the government.

Tammy Heath, owner of The Galley in Church Street, Brighton, said her business will remain under serious threat of closure until workers can return to their offices.

She said: “The announcement doesn’t really affect me, because we are a small sandwich bar, a lot don’t sit in anyway.

“The only thing that really isn’t good for us is that my shop is surrounded by offices, so until the people come back to the offices, we’re done really. It’s about 75 per cent of our demand.

“One girl has had to leave and find another job. There are normally two of us working in there. It’s only busy enough for one person at the moment.

“I’ll open until they say I can’t. I have three children to feed.”

“I went back in June, the builders coming in have kept me going. They have been working all the way through, so thank god for them.”

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Areas of England will be placed in a three-tiered system of local restrictions once lockdown ends on December 2.

Non-essential shops in all parts of the country will be allowed to reopen.

However, Tomasz Kowalski chef and owner at Social Board in Kemp Town, said the announcement was as “confusing”.

He fears the government will say that the hospitality industry will have to close its doors to customers again.

He said: “To be honest, I am not sure what is going on, that is the reality. We are doing takeaways, but we are missing our customers inside the building so much.

“We took massive losses because we couldn’t serve anyone inside. We are pretty excited about opening up and we will see if this can carry on or not.

“It’s so confusing. One moment, we’re going to reopen but after a few days they are going to say, ‘we’re changing to tier three, we will be closing down again’.

“I think they [the government] have been unclear, I think it’s never been so hard.

“We made some improvements in our sandwich bar over lockdown and now it’s a big unknown.

“What’s going to happen? Will we be able to serve customers like before or not? There is no clear direction in my opinion.

“I think it’s very short notice to get ready, we are a very small team. We have transformed our sandwich bar into a takeaway, so everything has to be brought back from storage and set up again such as tables and chairs.

“It’s a hassle, a lot of people don’t understand how much work has to be put into any restaurant, café or hospitality business. It’s a bit hardcore at the moment.

“We are looking froward to welcoming our lovely customers back.”

The Prime Minister also announced on Monday that gyms will be allowed to reopen across all three tiers.

The Argus: Underground Gym offer over an extensive range of classes in Brighton, Newhaven and Tunbridge WellsUnderground Gym offer over an extensive range of classes in Brighton, Newhaven and Tunbridge Wells

Spectators will be allowed to return to some sporting events, and weddings and collective worship will resume.

Sol Gilbert was forced to close the doors of his gyms in Newhaven, Brighton and Tunbridge Wells for the second time as a result of the national lockdown.

The martial arts coach owns a chain of gyms called Underground and was forced to adapt his business to suit coronavirus measures, spending thousands.

He said: “As an independent gym, it is good that we can continue to train.

“The nicer feeling is that we can help our members with their mental and physical health.

“My business partner and I are passionate about fitness and we set these companies up to make a difference in those areas.

“It now allows us to reopen, provide a service and get back into a comfortable trading position again. The most important thing is our members because we are a big community facility.

Sol launched a 21-day challenge to improve the mental and physical health of members during the national shutdown.

He said: “We have weekly Zoom meetings and WhatsApp groups for the men, and a separate one for the ladies.

“We give them support throughout and back that with live coaching.”

“That is why we started the 21 day challenge, it is a total restart programme and designed to get people back on track. Nutritionally, I make them accountable and communicate with them all.”