Popular Northampton coffee shop to take part in Eat Out To Help Out scheme

Dreams Coffee Lounge in St Giles Street has signed up to the Eat Out To Help Out scheme in August and thank the Government for the incentive to draw customers in on the quieter days.

Owner, Lisa Witham, celebrated the cafes three year anniversary in February - one month before lockdown was announced by Boris Johnson.

On July 9, she reopened her doors to customers after making sure risk assessments had been finalised, staff had been trained and perspex screens had been bought to section off tables.

"We knew lockdown was coming but we were trying to hold on to keep the staff in employment and keep the business going," Lisa said. "It's heartbreaking really, you put the heart and soul into the business and we are celebrating three years this year after opening in February. It was quite emotional closing the doors on that Sunday.

"After they gave us the green light to reopen you have all this preperation to do and nerves as you're making sure you're doing everything correctly and keeping everyone safe. It was a whole rollercoaster of emotions."

Lisa said the restaurant is now running at half capacity at 17 covers with reduced larger table sizes and instead more tables for two.

It has been designed where the tables between the top and bottom level of the cafe are sectioned off with perspex screens and the counter is also screened off for extra protection for the team members when they are serving takeaways.

To cut PPE costs to a minimum, the team has sourced re-usable fabric masks from a local supplier to try and be more sustainable but have to pay for the ongoing cost of extra hand sanitiser and cleaning products.

"We've had a really positive response to reopening,” Lisa added.

“We’ve had lots of our regulars back in and we've seen lots of new faces as well. We have had busier and quieter times and there have been days where you think 'oh gosh'. I stepped out on St Giles Street one Monday or Tuesday and there was hardly anyone around it was so surreal. It was so unusual compared to what we are used to.

"I think the Government scheme on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays throughout August will help on the quieter days. I think the scheme is great - our food is priced very reasonably anyway for the service customers recieve and the quality of the ingriedients that we use but to get that at half price for the customers is incredible value.

“For us to not lose out on 50% is really important and we are very grateful for the Government for introducing that scheme and it will be interesting to see what effect it will have and if it will bring more people in."

Dreams Coffee Lounge, which has been accredited by Visit England’s Covid-secure We're Good To Go standard, is still offering a takeaway service.