The Hospitality Industry Is Off After A Long LockdownAfter months of being closed, the hospitality sector is back into a nearly full swing as lockdown rules are eased, but takings are still down pre pandemic.
The UK government decided that the best way to beat the spread of the COVID virus was to issue a lockdown to all non essential businesses.
The balmy weather of the May bank holiday encouraged people to beer gardens all around the UK.
Weatherspoon’s once again is packed with drinkers keen to sit with their friends and blow the froth off a few.
Many restaurants that have been closed for months have been able to open their doors and get diners spending once again.
Sadly over the last few years, many restaurants have closed in the same way as the decline in the high street, as consumer habits have changed.
Certainly lockdown has forced many restaurants to close, both independents and chain restaurants.
But we have seen many restaurant chains close before the pandemic, such as Carluccio’s and Jamie Olivers Italian group.
Over the last few years, we have seen delivery companies such as Just Eat taking over food delivery. Many restaurants have struggled to find their own delivery staff in the past, but the lockdown really grew the sector.
We are now used to seeing Deliveroo riders waiting outside of restaurants throughout the day to collect food for customers choosing to eat at home.
This has both helped the hospitality sector, but also damaged it. Since most restaurants make their money on the liquids, people ordering just the food mean profit margins are reduced.
In the last few years we have seen companies such as Deliveroo and Just Eat pop up. Instead of restaurants delivering food themselves to customers, the customers go to food delivery companies and pay an additional fee to have restaurants deliver at home.
We have seen these companies even more during lockdown, as people crave a piece of ‘normal’ to have Nandos or McDonalds at home rather than in a restaurant. They are willing to pay a premium for the delivery company as well.
Even some restaurant chains have started selling their products to supermarkets so you can have a Wagamama or Nando’s at home via a meal kit.
Restaurants have been competing since the very first restaurant opened, however the competition now, as lockdown restrictions eased is higher than ever.
Marketing for restaurants is essential, and most of this is done on social media websites like Facebook. Pictures of diners cheersing the end of lockdown. Pictures of food that look picture perfect.
Social media also is a battle ground for restaurants of all sorts, both fine dining and fast food.
Meal deals are popular as is ‘spend over £30 per person and get a free desert’.
Restaurants are often found close to each other rather than being found alone in an attempt to both compete and work together.
Since March 2020 the hospitality sector was told to close, to offer take away only. This means that millions of staff were put on furlough or dismissed.
Now that restaurants have re-opened, there is a huge shortage of staff. Front of house, waiters, bar staff are all needed and some restaurants are offering cash incentives for them to come in.
Good staff are difficult to find the the hospitality industry has always struggled to find good reliable staff and to keep them. After all, being a waiter is not considered to be a profession, unless you are working at the Ritz or a Micheline stared restaurant.
Re-opening restaurants has both a bitter sweet taste to it.
Lockdown gave many restaurant owners a chance to pause and reflect, to consider how the changing environment of retail is taking it’s toll.
It gave the chefs a chance to reflect on the menu or to brush up on cooking skills.
It gave head chefs the chance to look at the cooking team and look to recruit additional chefs for when the closure is lifted.
Pub closures in the UK have been going on for over a decade, as going to the local pub changed as society changed post WW2.
The future of the hospitality and retail sector are closely linked, as one feeds off of the other, both are in the process of change.
We have seen the high street give way to the shopping centre, now with many shopping centres having empty units, the future is unknown.
People still enjoy eating out, and a variety of restaurants is important. How to stand out in the crowd and keep diners consistently coming back is uncertain during these times of change.
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