Western Daily Press (Saturday)
Unknown grips restaurateurs
businesses across the region.
“Obviously with the government paying 80 per cent of our staff wages to keep them on will be a massive help. We have also talked with our landlords and it’s on a ‘see how it goes’ basis at the moment.
“I can’t see restaurants or pubs opening for a while and, sadly, I feel some will go under. Some pubs may never even open again, which I hope is not the case, but on a positive note, I’m sure many restaurateurs and landlords will take this crisis as an opportunity to restructure their business and they will come out of it bigger and stronger.”
Although the majority of restaurants and pubs across the West Country have simply decided to close the doors, others have tried to adapt since the crisis by offering deliveries or takeaway options.
Until last week, Bertha’s pizza restaurant in Bristol Harbourside had never offered deliveries but owner Graham Faragher says that he had no other option if he was to keep his business open at what is a critical time for the hospitality sector.
Graham says he’s grateful that Bertha’s model is suited to takeaway and he has had the option to adapt his business, although admits that he was initially reluctant about sending pizzas to customers via a delivery rider.
“The biggest worry about changing to a delivery-only model was my own stubbornness and ‘pizza snobbery’ because I want our product to arrive in perfect condition.”
Bertha’s pizzas are now being sold via Deliveroo for the first time and although it’s not a money spinner for Graham once he has paid the delivery cost, staff and usual overheads, it has enabled him to carry on trading for the time being.
“Our team has been incredible and the pizzas are ready within two minutes of receiving the Deliveroo order.
“This is all new to us, and we’re still on a steep learning curve, but the reaction has been very positive.
“We’ve had a few pizzas arrive at people’s homes vertically, which I’ll be taking measures to resolve, but generally our customers already know our product and appreciate we’re trying incredibly hard to get it to them at ‘restaurant quality’.
“It has been incredibly stressful reacting and adapting to each government announcement and trying to juggle what’s best for the team and wider public. At times we’ve felt in limbo having to make a public health decision without the relevant expertise but at least we’ve managed to keep the business going.”