Impact of home working on city cafes and stalls

MANY lunchtime business owners in Swansea say they would welcome more footfall in the city centre as they continue to struggle making ends meet.

Many of the businesses rely on office workers, who visit on their lunch breaks to purchase food and drinks.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson yesterday announced plans for England to make a “significant return to normality” by Christmas, allowing companies to bring staff back to work if it is safe to do so from August 1. But the Welsh Government said it would continue asking people to work from home if possible.

In response, First Minister Mark Drakeford said: “I positively don’t want people to be returning to offices in the way that we did before coronavirus happened.”

Though hospitality workers in Wales say keeping safe is important, they also desperately need footfall in the city centre so that their businesses can survive.

Here’s what some businesses in Swansea had to say . . .

■ The Falafel Stall

Dan Stallard is the owner of the Swansea Market stall and shop on Orchard Street of the same name.

He started the business back up on July, 1 and said he has noticed a large reduction in sales as people continue to work at home.

“It has definitely had an effect on both the stall and shop – we only opened the shop on Orchard Street in February,” he said.

“We normally serve a couple of hundred people on a normal lunch time. We probably have about a third or a quarter of the trade we usually have – it depends on the day, but it is a massive difference.

“We are just trying our best, we have fewer staff because they are furloughed and are working at reduced hours.

“The reality is we need customers for our business to survive, but it’s important that people are safe, so it’s a tough one. We are doing our bit to keep customers and staff safe, using gloves, masks screens and keeping hygiene levels up.”

■ The Lunch Box

Amy Nelson-jones, 35, said her business, in Swansea Market, usually relies on office workers on their lunch break.

She sells a range of goods, including jacket potatoes, salads, cakes and hot drinks. She has been back trading for two weeks and has noticed differences in how her business is working.

“My main business comes from office and shop workers in Swansea city centre, so having so many of them on furlough has had an impact,” she said.

“Overall I’m probably down in business by around 20 or 30%, but it is picking up. I’m hopeful that when offices do reopen people will come back.

“I am selling more cakes, brownies and coffee than usual, maybe because cafes can’t open indoors and people have to takeaway – I only offer takeaway anyway.

“I’ve also noticed that I’m not seeing my usual customers, but I’m seeing new faces instead. I think maybe people who are on furlough are coming here who would normally be working elsewhere.”

■ Kardomah cafe

Marcus Luporini, 51, owner of the popular cafe, said most staff are furloughed, so they are serving takeaway drinks only. He said some days are quieter than others.

“It’s just me, my wife and daughter working here making teas and coffees,” he said.

“The footfall in Swansea isn’t high enough for us to be able to ask kitchen staff or waitresses back to work.

“We’ve been closed for four months, so we’ve mainly opened to get the word out that we are serving and to welcome our customers again. People have been really supportive when they’ve come by to get their drinks, lots have said they’re happy to see us open and we’re really grateful for that.

“It’s been mixed since we reopened – on Monday, we only sold about 20 drinks all day, but other days we’ve sold a lot more. It depends on the weather and whether people are coming into the city centre.”

Though coronavirus has hit the business hard, Mr Luporini said they’re doing all they can to prepare for when they can open indoors.

“The main thing for us is to make sure people feel safe when they do come back. A lot of our customers are elderly and if they don’t feel safe, they won’t come into town.

“We’re looking at putting measures in place to make people feel as comfortable as possible while they are here, such as giving staff PPE and having a one-way system through the cafe.”

■ The Cwtch

Owner of the city centre cafe, Antonia Facciuto, said he is looking towards the future, but that the business is struggling without its regulars.

“We’re trying to stay optimistic but it’s very difficult at the moment. We are operating at about 10% business,” he said.

“We mainly sell breakfasts, brunches and lunches so we rely a lot on people working in Swansea city centre. Because so many people are working from home, it has had an impact on us.

“Business is not sustainable as it is. We’re looking forward to August 3 when we can reopen indoors, but if business hasn’t increased then, it’ll be hard to pay our staff.

“All our staff have been fuloughed and they’re itching to get back, but we can’t afford to bring them back and there isn’t much point when there are so few customers.”