restaurants

The ups and downs of hospitality: massive staff shortages, high demand and 6 quid pints…

Brian O'Neill on May 14, 2021, 7:48 am

| Readers 1941

As our bars, restaurants and hotels start to come out of cold storage they have a whole new set of challenges. The main one is a massive shortage of staff at all levels. There has always been a shortage of chefs but this has now expanded to most roles, especially at the lower end. Talking to people in the industry there seems to be a few things going on. We used a lot of immigrant labour to plug the gaps, …

Today the pubs and restaurants can reopen – will you be back?

Brian O'Neill on July 3, 2020, 7:57 am

| Readers 1162

After 4 months of lockdown, our pubs and restaurants are now allowed to reopen – with the usual social distancing caveats. Some aspects of the ‘new normal’ just sound awful. Barriers between tables, masked staff and customers, allocated times etc. They don’t make for a relaxing night out. I have always tended to eat out at lunchtime and this will continue to be my strategy going forward. I never understand why more people don’t eat out more at lunchtime – …

Could open streets save our restaurants and bars?

Brian O'Neill on May 20, 2020, 9:07 am

| Readers 1760

Covid-19 has severally affected the hospitality industry with most bars and restaurants now closed. At some stage, we need to work out how we can let these businesses safely reopen. I came across a video that proposes a solution – open streets. In simple terms, it means having more outdoors areas for restaurants and bars. Customers will be uncomfortable sitting inside; they will be more relaxed sitting outside in the fresh air. The chances of catching the virus outside are …