From yesterday (24th September), pubs, bars and restaurants in England have been given a 10pm curfew and since the announcement the headlines have been filled with comments like these.
The BBC reported, ‘Closing pubs early may not seem like a big step but the hospitality industry is warning it will have a devastating impact on the sector.’
What’s the problem with 10pm closing?
Mainly, sittings and drinking time…
Restaurants especially, will suffer from a reduced serving time by not being able to ask the first sitting to leave in order to squeeze the usual second sitting in. Some venues have claimed this will effectively halve their takings.
‘You can sit people between 7 and 7.30pm and when they’re gone they’re gone. You can’t get that 9 o’clock sitting,’ Mr Vaulkhard, of Vaulkhard Group told BBC Radio 5 Live.
Then there’s speed drinking in pubs… Breaking news! There is a culture of people that enjoy a night out to drink and have fun with their friends. No big surprise, but in the old days when the bell was rung for time, that was the moment last rounds were hurriedly bought and sunk.
Closing early may effectively be worse for the risk of infection, by encouraging people to fit in their socialising with more people in less time and maybe even carry on at home with unregulated parties, to compensate for the lost time in the pub.
So what can we do to help our hospitality sector?
Abide by the rules
As consumers, enjoyers of the occasional night out and actual people, UK Business Buddy employees will all abide by the rules of social distancing as laid out by the Government. But we can do so much more from our position as business cost reduction advisors.
Portable card machines
Restaurants and bars that serve food are currently restricted to table service only. You can’t pay at the bar for your meal any more. UK Business Buddy provides fully mobile (and GPRS enabled) card machines so you can easily increase the number of machines on your restaurant floor, taking payments efficiently and safely.
Next day funding
We know how tight the budget has got lately, and it’s not likely to ease any time soon with these new closing times. That’s why we have worked hard to secure next day business funding for the hospitality sector to help keep the cash flow, well, flowing the way it should.
Please don’t hesitate to ask us any questions about your particular situation. There is no obligation to take out any contract, or sign any agreement with us. We want to help, we want to keep the hospitality sector thriving because not only is your business our business, it’s a lot of fun too!
