HOW FIRMS ADAPTED TO KEEP SERVING
SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESSES THAT KEPT GOING
ONE of the most heartwarming and impressive things that has happened during the pandemic has been the way Swansea city centre businesses have stepped up to keep us all well fed, entertained and looked after by delivering their goods and services in new ways.
What would we have done without our hardworking supermarket staff, our online workouts, care packages, tasty Friday night takeaways, banks and building societies keeping their doors open and even laundry collection services?
It has been noticeable how creative and fastthinking so many of our local firms have been: LC Gym has offered a roster of home workouts, everything from pilates to help with our home-working posture, to yoga, to help us keep our mind on an even keel; Kandy’s Laundrette in High Street has been running a pick-up and collection service for its customers; Plantasia offers virtual school workshops and tours to keep the kids busy; and countless foodie firms have turned to takeaways, including Pitcher and Piano, Brewdog, The
V Hub, Belle Vue Bistro and more, while Cwtch Café in Caer Street set off in a delivery van to serve customers their coffee and cake.
Brontosaurus Vegan in the market bought a quirky new delivery van to help it with its vastly increased number of deliveries, while taxi firm Yellow Cabs has been offering discounted taxi fares for council social care workers and NHS staff in the city.
Well-known Swansea Market businesses like Billy Upton, Davies of Mumbles, Hugh Phillips, Get Fresh, The Choice is Yours, Country Quality Meats and others have pivoted their businesses to offer daily deliveries in and around Swansea, so households that are shielding or staying home can be well fed.
Those Swansea Market businesses set up a delivery network so customers who would normally travel into the city for their favourites could get them delivered to their doorsteps. Billy Upton was routinely supplying around 400 households a week with fresh meat deliveries.
Mark Adams, who operates Billy Upton’s, said the move to online services and deliveries was a real eye-opener for him and the wider market. He said: “We’re supplying households in and around Swansea, Neath and Llanelli. Several of these customers are ordering for family members and neighbouring households, sometimes acting as community distribution hubs.”
At one point the village of Felindre just north of Swansea saw the Shepherds Inn pub taking 40-plus orders per week from Billy Upton’s and the bakers Davies of Mumbles to satisfy the needs of elderly local residents.
Mark added: “As a community it is vital for us all to pull together in a time of need and hopefully, when this time of uncertainty has passed, we can continue to supply our customers using the delivery service in future.
“I am very proud of what the Billy Upton team has achieved, and I would like to take this opportunity to say a big thank you to all of our customers who have supported their
local businesses.”
For many city centre businesses it is likely that these changes to the business models will remain in place post-lockdown.
He said: “It’s morphed into a whole new way of doing business that’s benefiting market traders and customers in Swansea.”
One group of people that has been particularly put out by the pandemic disruption is, of course, brides and grooms planning their big day.
Vanessa Philips, owner of Cariad Bridal, in Nelson Street, said: “We are very excited to be opening again and I can’t wait to start seeing my customers and staff. We have had brides on our waiting list for months and we are looking forward to finally meeting them now.”
While Cariad has been closed during the lockdown period, they have been on hand with vital reassurance for their brides. Vanessa continued: “We have been closed during this most recent lockdown, but we have kept in contact with all customers during this time.
“We were unable to sell dresses because we want to ensure a dress is perfect for every bride and we felt we couldn’t do that online. When restrictions lifted last summer we opened as soon as we could, following all Covid guidelines very carefully.
“We use a cleaning tool which fogs the whole shop and sanitises every nook and cranny. We also spray the dresses after each time they have been tried on to ensure they are clean.
“When our customers came to visit us when we reopened last time, they commented on how safe they felt here. Everything we do is by appointment only, which means we’re able to ensure track and trace is followed, sterilising of the shop is completed after every single customer and we can follow all of the rules and guidelines without any problems.
“We’ve had a phenomenal response to our reopening, we’re fully booked for the first few weekends. We can’t wait to get these weddings rolling again.”
Andrew Douglas, from Swansea Business Improvement District, said: “The past year has been such a testing time for Swansea city centre businesses and we couldn’t be prouder of the way they have adapted to meet the needs of their customers.
“We have worked very closely with our businesses to make sure they are up to date on the latest health and safety guidelines, we have supplied them with hundreds of PPE starter packs and we have been supporting them in making sure they know how and where to apply for grants and financial support they need to keep afloat.
“Swansea city centre is entering a new chapter of regeneration and remodelling, and we are, of course, seeing this mirrored in the way the businesses themselves have respon-ded to the pandemic.
“They have very much put the consumer and their workforce first and we know shoppers and consumers are grateful for this and will do all they can to support their local businesses as we all start to return safely to our city centre.”