Over the last year the hospitality industry has suffered a massive blow. The impact of the Covid pandemic and other factors has led to what is now being described nationally as a ‘hospitality crisis’.
This is the second in a series of articles by News OnTheWight, as we take a deep dive into the hospitality industry on the Island and explore how and why it been affected.
Challenges facing a restaurant owner
In Part One we spoke with Brian, who has worked in Front of House for 28 years and left the industry to work on a building site. In Part Two we speak with restaurant owner, Emma Guy.
With her husband Jon, Emma owns The Beach Hut, Bembridge, a beachside seafood kitchen that opens for lunch five days a week.
One of the biggest challenges for Emma since opening after the Lockdown has been recruiting and retaining staff. She tells News OnTheWight that restaurant owners around the country are suffering with the same problem, a need for more staff due to a change in Covid legislation and “people don’t want to work”, she says, “and I’m at my wit’s end.”
Changes in Covid legislation
Due to changes in the Covid legislation this year – venues that serve alcohol can only provide table service – Emma has had to rely on recruiting Front of House staff to take orders and serve tables. She’s gone from having two or three staff to needing seven.
This is a stark contrast to just after the first Lockdown in 2020, when The Beach Hut was adapted to include an ordering hatch where customers could place their order and then collect from another hatch when the order was ready.
It meant that Emma and her staff could work in a bubble, not really mixing with customers. However, she now has to find and pay staff to serve customers at their tables, who are mixing with customers and then mixing with those working in the kitchen.
Examples of being let down in the last month
Emma gave some recent examples of the problems she’s had with recruiting or retaining extra staff.
- Her Saturday waitress messaged on Thursday to say she won’t be coming back as it’s too far to travel.
- Her Sunday waitress – who Emma said was brilliant – lives with family who are worried about her taking the Delta variant back into the home.
- Four more people applied for the position, but won’t work weekends.
- One chef applied for the job, then took another job but didn’t tell Emma.
- An experienced barman never turned up on opening day.
- One experienced waitress messaged on opening day to say she was going back to Italy.
Impatient and inconsiderate customers
Emma told News OnTheWight that the biggest criticism from customers is that the staff don’t know what they are doing. She says this is a fair comment, she’s had to recruit some staff with no experience, but goes on to explain that many customers aren’t sympathetic or understanding of their situation.
Those working in hospitality are having to deal with customers refusing to wear masks or scan in for Track and Trace. Emma gave one example of customers pretending they didn’t have mobile phones (so couldn’t scan in), then seeing them checking their phones later during the meal.
Tourists have “forgotten about Covid”
Although she acknowledges the importance of the tourist trade, she says it has felt as though, “as soon as they get off the ferry, they forget that we’re living in a pandemic”.
Emma says,
“The Government still don’t know what they are going to do on 21st June. Is it going to be all opening up in two weeks or four weeks? As a small independent how on earth do I train my team?
“Yet customers come and criticise, leaving bad reviews on Trip Advisor because they don’t want to scan in, or can’t get what they used to have. It only takes 2-3 bad reviews and the impact is huge.”
We asked why customers felt that could behave that way, Emma replied,
“Because staff aren’t giving them the answer they want, they’re coming in and they want it now. If this is their first holiday since Lockdown they don’t realise that this is all new to us too. They arrive in holiday mode, and they want it all now.
“We’re all floundering like guppy fish trying to cope with the next round of legislation or inspection.”
Delivery service kept the wolf from the door
Other Covid restrictions have meant that the usual 100 covers during lunch has now been reduced to a maximum of 70, so the earning potential is reduced by around 30 per cent. Usually open seven days a week, this has now reduced to five days a week.
To counter this Emma has launched a delivery service since last October, which she says has been revolutionary. “That really has kept the wolf from the door,” explains Emma.
Customers worried about not being able to book a table are now just ordering their seafood platters from the delivery service, and Emma says she’s getting a lot of repeat business from that.
It appears to have helped support the rest of the business, which being seasonal, is only open until the end of the summer.
Positive response on social media
Emma explained that she’s been using social media to communicate all the problems that they’ve been experiencing.
“Rather than hiding the problem and saying to the World ‘we’re looking forward to seeing you’, we’ve gone the other route of saying ‘come on guys, give us a chance here’ and explaining what the problems that we’re going through.”
The response from followers has been positive, with many saying how much they’re looking forward to visiting.
Investment in technology
Given all the changes over the past year, it’s no surprise to hear that takings are down on previous years, and with repayments of the bounce back loan due to start any day now, The Beach Hut have looked towards technology for the answer.
A new system to allow customers to place orders from their table using their mobile phones has just begun.
The move has required investment from the business and will mean additional monthly costs, but Emma says it overcomes the lack of trained staff available to work.
More to come
News OnTheWight is seeking to tell this story from all angles.
Look out for the next part in our Hospitality Deep Dive series, when we’ll be hearing from a hotel chef who has left the industry and chosen to remain working at a supermarket.
