Business owners optimistic after ‘positive’ reopening of Northampton’s hospitality sector

A number of business owners in the hospitality industry have spoken about how they have coped since the reopening date.

Pubs and restaurants across Northampton and the rest of the country reopened on Saturday July 4 after months of being closed.

In order to reopen, the hospitality industry had to adapt services and in many cases reduce capacity, as well as deal with the impact this has on business.

Just over two weeks on from the reopening, local business owners spoke to Chronicle & Echo about how ‘the new normal’ is going.

James Ingram, owner of the Smoke Pit in the Ridings, said: “It’s been pretty good and better than we expected.

“We’re probably 30 percent down on how many people we can have in as we’ve had to move tables out, but it hasn’t been anywhere near as mad as we thought it might be.

“It has been a mixed bag in terms of feedback, but 90 percent has been positive, most people are happy to be back, but a few people don’t like having to social distance, but that is what it is.

“I’ve been able to bring back all but two members of staff off furlough too and they’re all back fully, which is good.”

The business is coping well with the new normal, but to secure the future of the restaurant James says things do need to change.

He added: “We are comfortable at the moment, but obviously we have used a lot of our savings and resources on other things.

“We are pretty positive about it and optimistic that as people become more accustomed to the way things are it will get better.

“And I think as death numbers come down more people will start to come out more and that will make a massive difference.

“The next few months in the run up to Christmas will be defining for the hospitality industry, especially with companies having to contribute to the furlough pay from August.”

Since reopening just over two weeks ago, James has noticed a new problem that has started to occur that also needs addressing.

“We are getting let down by people booking and then not turning up and I think this has been a thing throughout the hospitality industry,” he continued.

“People are hedging their bets and booking two or three places then deciding on the day which one to go to.

“That is making it really difficult. We could introduce a deposit system for our bookings but we are trying not to.”

The Charles Bradlaugh, Earl Street, also reopened on July 4 and bosses are similarly quietly optimistic about how business has been going.

Jake Richardson, managing director for the Richardsons Group that is responsible for the pub, said: “The response has been positive and we are doing OK even though business levels are down significantly from what they were.

“People are pleased with how we have implemented the measures and we’ve had positive feedback about the visits.

“We are seeing a lot of new people and business is down more in the evenings. We are doing better during the day.”

Although it is difficult for Jake to know for sure why business is better during the day, he believes no live music or entertainment, people still associating evenings with being busier and customers still being on furlough all play a role in the daytime trade.

He added: “People had four months to form new habits, so it will take a little bit of time for people’s concerns to disappear and to regain old habits.

“Hopefully restrictions will be relaxed going forward and we will be able to get back to where we were before.”

The pub is looking into bringing back a socially distanced version of its live jazz Wednesdays from August.

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