The countdown begins for pubs, restaurants and other hospitality venues opening their doors and welcoming customers inside. All being well Monday 17th May 2021 marks the day when once again we can enter hospitality venues.
Countdown to the celebrations for hospitality
As we countdown to inside opening for bars, pubs and restaurants and an easing of the rules for hotels and hospitality generally, optimism is high. It’s over a year since the country was plunged into lockdown and the excitement and consumer enthusiasm is palpable.
We know there have been a lot of causalities along the way, and that its likely there will be more, but for now let’s celebrate the road to freedom with a ‘glass half-full’ approach. Many venues are fully booked up to July as they plan for the surge of 14 million booking for pubs.
Long overdue celebrations and gatherings are planned and a euphoria for the sector that will once again see its venues full to capacity and spilling out into outside spaces too.
We spare a thought to those Planning for the surge
Planning to open is not without its headaches: staffing, booking systems, rules and regulations, retraining and safety. What’s needed to be ready to serve the surge of very enthusiastic consumers takes a lot of planning.
- Retraining and refresher training for staff
- Calling staff back from furlough
- Setting up new booking processes
- Ensuring appropriate health and safety measure are in place for both staff and consumers
- Handling staff shortages – affected by covid-19 and Brexit
- Workforce planning: right people, right place, right skills and right time
- Payroll could be a headache too, with extra shifts, tips, and staff fulfilling different roles in a shift, at different pay rates
- Keeping staff happy
At elementsuite we support a lot of businesses in the hospitality sector, so we know first-hand how tough its been, but also how resilient and resourceful they have been too.
The journey to recovery for hospitality
There has been much documented analysis on how long it will take the hospitality industry to recover to pre-pandemic levels with many estimating 2023. With the diversity of buildings and venues, not all businesses have been able to open up outside spaces to welcome consumers. That’s why this month’s lifting of restrictions should help many more.
A recent survey by hospitality trade bodies show that only 40% of pubs have been able to welcome back customers to their outside spaces. Those that have opened expected turnover to be just 29% of that achieved over the same period in 2019. Lets hope that inside opening goes a long way to helping those businesses start to recover.
Cheers to good news for hospitality
Businesses can start to generate income and recover some of their losses and lost income. No longer will hospitality be battling the weather along with all the other regulations and restrictions. Although they will be limited to table service and social distancing, table service is a model that works very well in North America. Its often seen as a more efficient approach to service, which can improve margins and consumer enjoyment (bigger tips).
Three cheers to hospitality and wishes to all our customers and partners in the sector.
elementsuite HR Software
