Pub landlord who’s turned into a click and collect grocer
...and other nimble entrepreneurs who’ve reinvented their businesses to keep trading during the crisis
BUSINESSES are facing desperate times as the coronavirus lockdown takes its toll. But with a bit of imagination, British bull dog determination and entrepreneurial flair, some owners are pivoting their businesses into ones which will be able to survive and possibly even thrive during the crisis.
Among them is Tim Foster, co-founder of The Yummy Pub company. He saw his business change overnight because of lockdown – but he has never been busier.
He has kept his food and drink supply chain going, delivered donations of beer to NHS staff, set up a click-and-collect grocery store from his 15th Century lakeside pub – The Wiremill – near Lingfield, Surrey, and organised hundreds of meals for the homeless.
‘ I’m a fighter,’ he says. ‘ I’m fighting every day for my staff, my business and my community.’
Tim estimates he has lost at least £1 million in sales so far due to lockdown and now owes his suppliers hundreds of thousands of pounds, but he is determined to keep on going. He says: ‘We saw the supermarkets were running out of food and that the elderly and vulnerable weren’t able to even get essentials.
‘So I worked solidly for days on setting up a click- and- collect grocery store at the pub selling milk, bread, eggs, loo rolls and flour. We have now extended the range and are also selling freshly cooked fish and chips and 30 “Gastro-togo” meals including Beef Wellington.
‘I furloughed 83 staff but four chefs who weren’t eligible for furlough now live in isolation at the pub making all our food, so it’s safe and can be picked up without any physical contact.’
Tim is now working on expanding his delivery service with Deliveroo and in London, his Somers Town Coffee House is distributing donations of Camden Town beer to NHS staff at nearby University College Hospital as well as making hundreds of meals for London’s homeless – paid for by donations from customers.
‘One guy bought some groceries and donated £250 – it was incredible,’ says Tim.
His business’s size means he doesn’t qualify for any Government grants and he is flatly refusing to take out a Government-backed Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan. He says: ‘I don’t want such a huge debt sitting on my balance sheet which I have to pay back in circumstances which could be totally different. That would be ludicrous.’
But despite all his good efforts and energy, his weekly turnover has plunged from £250,000 to just £4,000 – he’s not covering his costs and isn’t taking a wage.
‘I can’t do this forever,’ he says, ‘but at the moment I’m here for the community.
‘We are going to come out of this and then we can see how things look after lockdown. Everything we’re doing now could be transformational for our business.’
Another to have adapted his business for the coronavirus world is James Breslaw, founder of the Thai restaurant chain Neds Noodle Bar. He saw its business model change overnight on Friday, March 20 when the Government ordered pubs and restaurants to close.
But by quickly adapting to the new situation, Breslaw says he has been able to keep his restaurants open throughout lockdown by converting them to 100 per cent takeaway and delivery.
He says: ‘We couldn’t do eat-in food of course, but instead we retrained all our chefs to be able to work by themselves in complete social isolation.
‘They now open up the restaurant at the start of the shift, take food orders, prepare them, pack and dispatch them. Cleanliness, security and speed is vital.’
Delivery sales have doubled since lockdown, but the loss of restaurant dining has seen overall business plunge by 80 per cent and around 90 per cent of staff have been furloughed.
Yet James is determined to keep the business ticking over. This week, Neds Noodle Bar, which offers a 50 per cent discount to key workers, is starting selling its ownbrand sauces on Amazon for the first time.
‘Even with all the changes we’ve made, we will be lucky if we break even,’ he says. ‘If our landlords hadn’t allowed us to delay our rental payments, then we would have gone out of business.’
James is now backing the National Time Out campaign calling for hospitality companies to be allowed to put rental payments on hold for nine months.
The Government’s busi ness grants helped James clear pressing bills and he is hoping that the country’s gradual return to work will lead to an increase in trade.
He says: ‘If you’re able to serve takeaway customers quickly at the counter, then you’ve got a great chance of surviving the coronavirus. If you’re a full-service restaurant, then it’s very unlikely you’ll survive.’ CRICKET COACHING FOR CHILDREN ONLINE
CRICKET coaching might seem impossible to put online but Robbie Gunn, founder of 360 Cricket, is hoping to keep children’s interest
in the sport going, even if they can’t be outside playing it.
Former sports teacher Robbie, 28, set up his company last year to help local clubs provide year-round coaching and he was confident that this year was going to be a good one. ‘Many clubs are run by volunteers so 360 Cricket helps them deliver coaching in a more structured way,’ he says. ‘We provide the training and the equipment and hopefully help children develop a lifelong love for the game.’
After lockdown pulled the rug from under his feet, Robbie and his business partner Lloyd Edwards worked solidly for days to put together a series of online cricket packs for children aged between five and 12 to download – via 360cricket.co.uk.
They contain everything from recommended activities and quizzes to coaching and cricket facts.
‘We operate in South London and not all the children we coach have access to gardens or equipment, so we came up with things you could do at home,’ says Robbie.
‘It’s been difficult as we’re earning nothing and the biggest four months of the year for us are about to be wiped out financially. But we want to help the kids we used to work with maintain their love of the game, so we’re trying to find new ways of doing that.’
WORKOUTS VIA ZOOM AND SKYPE
PERSONAL trainer George Fereos says reacting quickly to the lockdown means his business has achieved in four weeks what it would have taken years to do before.
While previously he would have been carrying out one-to-one personal training sessions with his clients in gyms around North London, coronavirus has forced him online. ‘ I’ve had to pivot and adapt so quickly, but now that I’ve been able to do that I can keep on looking after my existing clients as well as reaching out to new ones,’ he says.
For the lockdown, he has created 12- week training packages with videos demonstrating each recommended exercise and counsels his clients online via Zoom and Skype which can be accessed via his website Trainwise.net or via training portal MyPTHub.
‘I’m having to adapt to being online as well as my clients but I can’t just sit on my hands,’ he says.