Welcome to this week’s News Bites, where we’re growing our own cucumbers and looking ahead to a nice cold beer in a beer garden (with a rain coat on standby!).
Hendricks Gin proves they’re as cool as a….
Cucumber! Hendricks Gin announced this week that they are challenging the hospitality industry to grow their own cucumbers to help raise funds for The Drinks Trust. With donations already exceeding £5,000, the brand is donating £30 for every first cucumber grown during the competition, which will conclude in a virtual Cucumber Cultivation Celebration, with awards and prizes given for the wonkiest and the cucumber with the most personality. Willing botanists can sign up to get their free growing kit or donate via the Just Giving page.
Beer gardens ‘inundated’
Pubs across the country have reported a huge demand from punters eager to return to beer gardens from next month. One pub in Cheshire, the Bench Bistro Bar, saw 70 individual bookings in just two hours on the day that Boris announced the 12th April as a potential reopening date. The Government’s roadmap states that operators will be given one week’s notice to confirm if they are allowed to reopen on the 12th, however some operators have said they need more certainty in order to make plans. Fingers crossed the trusty British weather won’t let us down!
Your hospitality industry needs you!
Results from a survey out this week has revealed that three quarters of operators across the hospitality industry are planning big recruitment drives to grow their teams in 2021. 726 business leaders across the restaurant, bar and casual dining industries were surveyed and 44% said they will be recruiting to the same, or a greater extent, than in previous years, with many predicting that their workforces will return to 79% of their previous scale by July 2021, and 90% by December 2021.
Compliance made simpler during the pandemic
A renewed appreciation of the power of technology is one of COVID-19’s enduring on-trade symptoms, and it’s clear the hospitality industry hasn’t been immune to digitalisation either, “as venues closed down overnight and restrictions came into force, we were challenged with finding new ways to conduct audits and operators were faced with a host of challenges,” explains Mike Williams, Operations Director at Food Alert. Mike suggests that prior to Covid the idea of a virtual audit “would not have been considered”, but now this sort of software has become just as crucial as your online order and pay app.