SAFETY FIRST FOR PUBS AND BARS

City business owners prepare to open their doors again:

Keeping people safe will be top priority as many of Sunderland’s bars and restaurants get set to reopen on Saturday.

This weekend, Wearside hospitality businesses will be among those opening their doors to customers for the first time since the coronavirus lockdown began.

It comes as the Government has given the green light for such businesses to start trading again as long as they abide by social distancing guidelines.

But as a number of Sunderland bars and restaurants plan to welcome back customers on Saturday, others are taking a more cautious approach to reopening.

Some pubs and bars will open their doors immediately on Saturday, while others will reopen in the coming days.

Either way, customers will now find a number of changes at their favourite venues.

These will include no standing at the bar and table service only.

Measures also include booking in advance wherever possible, using one-way systems and using the hand sanitiser stations provided.

Sunniside's 808 Bar and Kitchen on St Thomas Street will be among those in the area opening on Saturday.

It follows a major refurbishment to make the venue more able to adhere to social-distancing. 808 director Carlton Johnston, said: “We have been getting our plan together for some weeks to ensure that when we could open both customers and staff would feel safe.

“We have the luxury because we are quite a large venue of being able to accommodate people in a social distanced way.

“And because we are confident in all of the measures we’ve put in place, we can’t wait to welcome people ba ck.”

Such measures have included taking out some of the booths, introducing a one-way system and lowering the overall capacity of the venue by 35%.

The venue has also put a booking system in place which is already at 90% capacity for Saturday.

“We have very limited availability for walk-ins so we would prefer that people booked,” he said.

Meanwhile venues such as Asiana Fusion restaurant on West Wear Street, have made the decision not to open on July 4.

The business has been operating a take-away and delivery service during lockdown

It is planning to open on July 8.

Owner Ian Wong said: “We were just a bit concerned about what it might be like the first weekend after everywhere has been closed for so long.

“So we have decided to wait a few days.

“We have already got a large number of bookings and a lot of interest for when we do open the restaurant again and have put all of the necessary measures in place.”

Sharon Appleby, head of business operations at Sunderland BID, said this weekend was going to be busy for the city.

She said: “It’s very important to stick to the social distancing rules and to remember that there will be table service and no standing at the bar and that wherever possible people should book in advance.

“We want everyone to be able to enjoy themselves but to still be mindful of the fact COVID-19 is still around and it’s important to stick to the rules.”