Putting people before profits

A Hamilton pub has been praised for making the difficult decision to close its doors for two weeks.

The popular Junkyard Pub in the town’s Chapel Street, made a post on their Facebook page on Monday stating they would temporarily close.

After lengthy discussions amongst their staff they decided that it’s important to be“proactive now rather than reactive later”.

The Facebook post read:“therefore we believe that the best thing we can do for the safety of our staff and our clientele is to shut the bar for a fortnight from tomorrow (Tuesday, March 17).

“We pride ourselves on being a safe space within our community – when someone sets foot inside our doors they should feel welcomed and at ease regardless of creed, colour or sexual orientation.

“We believe that given the current situation we are all facing it would be irresponsible of ourselves to continue trading when we cannot guarantee our core beliefs will remain intact.

“The past few days we have tried to follow government advice, follow the highest of health and safety procedures and implement changes that will reduce contamination – providing sanitiser and wipes at the bar, promoting using cashless payments etc, but ultimately, we believe it’s important for businesses not to put profits first but more importantly, focus on doing what’s right to keep people as safe as we possibly can, including our staff.

“It is with a heavy heart that we have arrived on this decision. To anyone that had a booking with us arranged within this time frame we hope that you can accept our sincerest apologies and understand that we believe that this is for the greater good. We hope you understand our stance and our decision. It’s not goodbye, it’s cya in a few. Sending love and well wishes to you all, the Junkyard team.”

Many have taken to Facebook to praise the pub for its actions.

Daniel Lowe said:“good on you guys for looking after your staff and patrons.”

Andrea Maxwell-mcmaster added: “Well done putting your staff and customers first, wish there was more like you.”

Veronica Murphy posted:“well done, I wish more employers did the same.”

Frances King wrote:“so glad to see business putting people first. I haven’t managed to get along yet to eat but it will be top of my list when you reopen. Can’t get better than a business who cares about its staff and customers.”