Owners of Sheffield hospitality venues on the impact of 12 months of Covid-19 restrictions

The last year has been one of the most difficult in recent memory for people living in Sheffield and beyond.
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Since Covid-19 restrictions were first brought in almost a year ago, our lives have changed beyond recognition.

The simple liberties that we all took for granted such as visiting a relative or eating out have been temporarily banned, and parents have been forced to balance the chaos caused by the pandemic with months of home-schooling.

The city’s businesses have been hit incredibly hard. Lockdowns and tier restrictions have meant that many of our hospitality venues have spent more of the last year than they have been open, and those that have not closed have been forced to adapt – and quickly.

Owners of hospitality businesses in Sheffield have shared their views on the trials and tribulations of the first year of the coronavirus pandemicOwners of hospitality businesses in Sheffield have shared their views on the trials and tribulations of the first year of the coronavirus pandemic
Owners of hospitality businesses in Sheffield have shared their views on the trials and tribulations of the first year of the coronavirus pandemic

The majority of people working in the sector have spent at least some of the year on furlough and some have sadly lost their jobs.

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Should the Government’s roadmap out of lockdown go to plan, hospitality venues will be able to open outdoors from next month and will be able to welcome customers inside from May 17.

And as pubs, cafés and restaurants make the necessary preparations to welcome customers back, I spoke to South Yorkshire business owners about the past year, their hopes for post-lockdown trading and whether they think this national lockdown will truly be the last.

Craft beer bar, Two Thirds Beer Co on Abbeydale Road first opened to customers in December 2019, and it is hard to imagine a more tumultuous first year of trading.

The team at Two Thirds. Picture: Matt Waterhouse PhotographyThe team at Two Thirds. Picture: Matt Waterhouse Photography
The team at Two Thirds. Picture: Matt Waterhouse Photography

Owner Ben Stubbs said: “To say it was tough is quite an understatement! Our bar had only been open since the start of December 2019, so we’d only been operating for three months before the pandemic hit. Myself, along with my two business partners were still working our day jobs at the time, and we’d handed our notices in literally two weeks before we were forced to close our doors. It was a real hard one to take.”

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The introduction of the first national lockdown on March 26 last year meant that hospitality businesses either had to close or forge a new way of working.

Ben says that within days of restrictions being brought in, Two Thirds had been “flipped on its head.”

“Our bar had been transformed into a warehouse, full of pallets, crates and boxes of craft beer beer stacked up to the ceiling. We built a website overnight, offering free same day delivery of craft beers, built a bottle shop in the bar, and even bought our very own canning machine - allowing the thirsty folk of Sheffield to still experience fresh draught beer – albeit in their own home,” he said.

Two Thirds is a craft beer bar based on Abbeydale RoadTwo Thirds is a craft beer bar based on Abbeydale Road
Two Thirds is a craft beer bar based on Abbeydale Road

Two Thirds’ decision to quickly diversify by opening a bottle shop and delivering to punters has helped to sustain them over the last year; and even put them in a position to buy their first ever house beer – through which they have raised more than £3,000 for the Sheffield Children’s Hospitals Charity.

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Ben believes Two Thirds’ new business model has opened them up to new customers, allowing them to successfully trade nationally and creating new “revenue streams” that they will continue to explore long after the bar reopens.

Two Thirds had to furlough their staff during the first lockdown, and the low point of the last year came when they were forced to close once again in October after working to build up a “fantastic little team.”

“It all came crashing back down again in October, which was incredibly frustrating and sad,” said Ben.

Liz Aspden of the HarlequinLiz Aspden of the Harlequin
Liz Aspden of the Harlequin

But the Two Thirds team are now hoping to recruit a new team in the coming weeks, and are looking forward to welcoming customers back to their “little neighbourhood bar”

"We miss everyone so much,” said Ben.

He added: “I feel like the end is in sight now and I’m pretty optimistic about how good this summer is shaping up to be. During this current lockdown, we’ve expanded and taken on some additional space to allow us to continue growing our online operation, once the bar is back open. We’ve also built a kitchen at the back of the premises, and we’ve just announced that local Sheffield street food outlet Get Wurst will be joining the Two Thirds family.

"They’ll be serving their authentic German bratwurst and currywursts in our Abbeydale Road bar from April 12 onwards.”

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Liz Aspden, Landlady of The Harlequin on Nursery Street in the city centre, says the pub was in quite a “good position” when the first lockdown hit because they were expecting it to happen and deliberately reduced their range of cask ales in anticipation.

Once lockdown came, The Harlequin also adapted to allow them to continue operating.

The HarlequinThe Harlequin
The Harlequin

"The initial Government grant and furlough scheme meant that we could have just shut the doors and waited but we wanted to do what we could to continue trading for a couple of reasons: firstly to bring in some money to top wages up to 100 per cent; and secondly to keep in touch with our regulars. Also it’s hard to go form working seven days a week to doing nothing,” explained Liz.

In addition to selling beers and ciders to takeaway, The Harlequin also started making ready meals for customers including pies and lasagnes and began operating a grocery collection for people who wanted to avoid shops.

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She said: “There was a real sense of community spirit. As well as supporting our customers, we were able to support our own suppliers which felt very important in the context of a very depressing situation.”

The pub made the necessary alterations to reopen with social distancing last July, and changed their opening hours to reflect the change in working habits for city centre offices.

The next obstacle came with the introduction of Tier 2 restrictions, which meant that pubs could only serve alcohol with a “substantial meal,” a situation Liz said was not “economically viable.”

Unlike previous lockdowns, the Government stipulated that pubs would not be able to sell alcohol to take away during lockdown three. Despite not driving, Liz still opted to offer customers a delivery service, based on what she could manage on foot.

She said: “Actually, doing that has been great fun. It’s surprising to how happy people are to see you when you turn up at their door on a Friday evening with freshly poured beers, especially when it’s snowing and icy!”

Looking forward to post-lockdown trading conditions, Liz says The Harlequin is currently “shouldering a substantial amount of debt” after taking out the Government’s bounce back loan scheme last summer which she admits is “nerve wracking.”

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She hopes that new ventures such as moving their regular pub quiz online and the new audience they have attracted by publishing recipe ideas online, will translate into future opportunities for expanding the business.

The past few months have proved challenging for Steph Short who runs Cafe On The Corner in Alpina Way, Swallownest and was forced to make her two members of staff redundant during the first lockdown.

She says she has found offering a take away service to be “hit and miss,” but has found it works better when offering it two days a week, something she has been doing during this most recent lockdown.

Steph added: “Eat Out to Help Out was both a blessing and a curse. I didn't anticipate how popular it would be and struggled with the demand and pressure it put us under. It definitely boosted our profile and business though. We had all Covid safety measures in place, increased our outdoor seating, limited table time, and always adhered to all the guidelines.”

Moving forwards, Steph is looking forward to the end of lockdown and to “accommodating customers inside and outside without the pressure of any restrictions”.

The Government hope all Covid-19 restrictions will be lifted from June 21, but this is still a provisional date.

Steph added: “We are a small cafe and nobody thought twice about sharing a table with someone they didn't know. There was always someone to have a chat with and many a friendship has been forged at the café.”

David and Laura Lister run E’Lupo in Effingham Street, Rotherham, which has been serving Italian food to people in the area for 34 years.

The couple welcomed their first child, Nelle, in the middle of pandemic and have had to balance being new parents with a rollercoaster ride of plenty of ups and downs over the last year.

David recalled how when the first lockdown was introduced , it was done so with three days’ notice, and meant they had stocked up with a week’s worth of produce when they were forced to close.

"We were thinking what are we going to do with all of this food? We decided to fill up all of our empty boxes with food and deliver it to NHS staff and key workers.

“Although it was a sad time, it was also great in other ways, because the community really rallied around to help each how they could. We received lots of positive messages from people,” said David.

The couple opted to open for takeaway, and that coupled with the “large grant” they were awarded by the Government meant they “weren’t as anxious” about keeping the business afloat.

Hospitality reopened to customers on July 4 last year, and the popularity of the Government’s Eat Out to Help Out scheme, which saw diners pay half price for meals from Monday to Wednesday, meant E’Lupo saw a huge boost to their trade.

"It was fantastic, we thought we’re going to be able to carry on. It was so successful,” said David.

But the subsequent lockdown, which saw hospitality close between November 5 and December 3, and return to Tier 3 restrictions had a huge impact on E’Lupo because they were closed during their busiest time of the year.

"We were fully booked, sometimes a year in advance,” he said.

The last few months have been difficult. David and Laura both also work as solicitors, in addition to running the restaurant, and while having a separate stream of income has come as a relief, the nature of their work means that if financial problems with the restaurant were to result in bankruptcy the pair would no longer be able to practice the law and would lose their jobs as well as the restaurant.

Despite the challenges, David appears to be cautiously optimistic about the future. He hopes that when they are able to reopen there will be a voracious appetite for eating out; and that the community support they have seen through much of the pandemic will also translate to a busy summer season.

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In these confusing and worrying times, local journalism is more vital than ever. Thanks to everyone who helps us ask the questions that matter by taking out a digital subscription or buying a paper. We stand together. Nancy Fielder, editor.

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