A Covid World - Should we open on a Saturday?

We have been on lockdown for a long time, too long in fact. For us hospitality folk that’s meant a long time without the hustle and bustle, without the familiar sounds of the kitchen, the glass wash, the guests! For the public it’s now reached a tipping point, where keeping people away from socialising is causing more mental health issues than the pandemic itself (imagine having to put 75% of the country through therapy due to loneliness, anxiety and lack of socialisation).

The word “unprecedented” has been thrown around a lot, and we are going to be facing new challenges every day. But the end is in sight – Saturday the 4th of July. Not only Independence Day for our State-side friends, but now a whole new meaning of freedom for the UK hospitality scene. We get to finally open our doors to the public, to welcome them with open arms (from a safe distance), and we’re not questioning wanting and needing to open, but is Saturday the best day?

Either way, the hospitality industry will thrive. As it always has in one way or another. It has forever risen to challenges and come out stronger. We will rise again.

We have had the time to rest, reflect and do our research on how the new normal will look, and how it will impact us.

Should you open your doors on a Saturday?

The main issue is with social distancing. We received the very good new recently that this will drop to 1m with mitigations when bars and restaurants reopen. This is going to restrict some venues but finding new ways to operate has been something we have always done. If you have implemented these new guidelines and mitigations, we should have faith in the systems that we put in place. Train our staff across the venue to have confidence in their service and the standards they adhere to.

But have we had enough time or clear guidance on this? The government documents released are normally tedious and rather vague. Do you have to have screens up in between the guest and the bar? Is the 1m distance from each table or each guest? What do you do in the case of an outbreak in your venue? There are so many questions that it does make us think – have we been informed fully of what is required from us?

If you feel you have not had the time, funds or resources to put in these mitigations and new safety features you definitely should before opening your doors, or face penalties. Consider primarily the safety of your guests, your staff, and the reputation of your venue, if you were to seem you were not looking out for the best interests of your patrons. Not to mention the fact that an outbreak in your venue would likely mean its swift reclosure.

There will be issues, sure. There always were a few individuals that would try to ruin it for the many. Being proactive rather than reactive in our venues will mean that we can quickly rectify any problems that come about. If we feared a guest was about to cause an issue, we would pre-empt it before it blew out of proportion. This is no different now, just the circumstances have changed.

The environment has changed, and make sure your staff and security are aware of it. Handling customers is going to be very different when we return. Even things like loud voices, singing and chanting are being discouraged by the government. Consider how you will deal with this if your guests persist in this behaviour.

Opening on a Saturday will bring these issues straight out. People have been locked away for months, not had any form of socialisation in bars and restaurants, and not seen their friends in what will feel like forever. And to top it off, most people have weekends off! They will be excited, they will make noise, and they will be hard to manage. Should the Government have reopened hospitality on a Monday maybe? Started us off easy, let us use the quieter weeknights to get into the flow of the “new-norm”. I guess preparation is key, and if you have put systems in place then you should be ready to go, no matter what day it is!

Smaller venues, who may find reopening difficult, should start with ‘soft’ openings. This gives an opportunity to practice their new measures and do test runs for close friends and family without it being illegal. We should all look at this as a positive. But any venue could use this approach. Prepare for the 4th as if it was your soft launch. Do your opening stock counts, trial run your till systems, do a practice service. Normally these things are not ideal to launch on a Saturday – the busiest day in hospitality – but many of us have no choice. If we can safely do so, we absolutely should get the industry open on the Saturday 4th July. The sooner we get them rolling, the sooner we can adjust to the new normal.

There are going to be changes and things will be different. But different doesn’t mean worse. In many cases, particularly in hospitality, different means better. A different menu, a different team mindset, a different way of doing things.

Now replace the word different with better and you get our meaning.

Let’s get the ball rolling & Let’s push things forward.

Thanks,

Hospitality Life UK & Let's Push Things Forward