Above and beyond to prevent virus spread
An ultra-cautious Hamilton restaurant has banned cash payments – and introduced a dedicated doorman – in an attempt to prevent coronavirus spreading.
Mushtaqs Indian restaurant and takeaway announced contactless payments only for all customers at the premises and also for home deliveries from last Thursday.
Owner Ajmal Mushtaq is also drafting in a doorman to ensure strict rules are adhered to, such as minimising the touching of surfaces by takeaway collection customers.
All touchpoints will be sanitised every 30 minutes, while staff at the restaurant in Almada Street, have been instructed to wash their hands every hour.
Operating the biggest takeaway in the country, Mr Mushtaq insisted that he is simply doing everything he can to ensure staff and customer safety.
He said: “I don’t think this is going over the top. If you look at the number of cases in Italy, that went from a handful of cases to thousands very quickly.
“It’s our responsibility to take this seriously and not have a cavalier approach.
“We operate the biggest takeaway in Britain and employ around 55 members of staff at peak times.
“I’ve got a big responsibility on my shoulders to make sure my team don’t lose out, that customers are well looked after, and the business isn’t affected.”
Drafting up a document titled ‘Five practical steps – important announcement’, the Indian restaurant listed those steps in the following order:
■ 1 Contactless payments only – if the bill is more than £30, the amount will be processed twice. The customer will not have to pay any additional card processing fees.
■ 2 Home deliveries – also card payment only, pre-paid at time of ordering.
■ 3 Dedicated doorman – in place to ensure takeaway collection customers do not need to touch any surfaces etc.
■ 4 Sanitised touchpoints – all touchpoints will be sanitised every 30 minutes.
■ 5 Hand washing – every staff member will have to wash hands every hour.
Owner Ajmal is encouraging other business owners to take similar action and share his company’s practical information.
He said: “If every business took a few small, but important steps, it could help.
“We are all in this together.” Mushtaq’s was crowned Best Takeaway in Scotland 2019 at the Asian Curry Awards, beating off competition from thousands of takeaways.
Owner Ajmal was also crowned Entrepreneur of the Year at the prestigious awards bash in London four months ago.