Northampton restaurants speak out about 'nightmare' onslaught of cancellations in the run up to Christmas

Restaurants and pubs in Northampton have spoken out about the 'nightmare' onslaught of cancellations in the run up to Christmas.

Chronicle & Echo spoke to some of the most popular places to eat in town, which all shared the same message of cancellations, disappointment and uncertainty this festive season.

Many people have been cancelling due to the rise in Covid infections both locally and nationally, which has led to a drop in custom for the hospitality sector.

Nuovo in Abington Street

Nuovo owner Stewart Wright said the situation is becoming a 'nightmare'.

He said: "It's a bit of a nightmare at the moment. People are cancelling because they are worried about getting Covid. The situation is affecting business, that's needless to say. We are doing exactly what we are told to by government.

"There seems to be mixed messages about what we can and cannot do. We are hoping for clear messaging and clear signals from government as to what we need to be doing to make people as safe as possible."

Chili Village in Wellingborough Road

A Chili Village spokeswoman said: "We have had so many cancellations, this week we have had 150.

"I'm sad, actually, because the hospitality sector has already been affected a lot and we have not had support. We have high business rates and we still need to pay all expenses. It's very difficult.

"We had no chance to recover after the last lockdowns. It feels like we are just starting to make business again and then it changes. People are still not willing to go out as much."

Trying to put her finger on the situation, the spokeswoman said it was a mix of misleading information and people wanting to protect their families.

She said: "I think there is so much misleading information out there at the moment, which is leaving people confused.

"People are asking if they need their Covid passports in order to get into the restaurant - you don't need them at the moment.

"People care about their elderly relatives and don't want to go and affect their health over Christmas - it's very understandable.

"Everybody has a choice. I can't encourage them to go out. It's everybody's choice. They have got their own decisions to make."

Marmaris in Fish Street

Owner Erkan Kaygusuz said he has already had 50 cancellations this week and is expecting more to follow suit.

He said: "It's not really good, unfortunately. I was even thinking I'm going to have to not call in my part-time workers because there's not enough work, and cut people's wages too.

"People are scared about the situation, they want to spend Christmas time with family so they probably want to isolate before, which is understandable. But as a business, the effects of that are really big.

"Eighty people cancelled last week, I think more people will cancel this week, maybe 80 to 90 percent of bookings.

"When I was driving to work they were talking about this on the radio; I am really upset but what can I do? There is nothing we can do.

"I'm thinking they might lock us down. How are we going to handle that? I'm just paying the bills and making sure Marmaris is standing on its feet, that's what I care about."

The Live and Let Live pub in Harpole

Pub landlady Miranda Clare said: "I have been really lucky so far. I have not been that badly hit but there's still plenty of time.

"This Christmas is so important. This was many places be all and end all this year - a chance to make up for last year, which would hopefully carry them through the first quarter of 2022.

"This could be the end for a lot of businesses. This will definitely see some off. It really is the sad truth.

"People are scared but we can't live like this. It's not going to go away, it will come back in another form season after season.

"This time last year we were saying we just need to get on with our lives."