Pub and bar chains O’Neill’s and All Bar One are inviting customers back safely with seated-only service and hosts at entrances.
Owned by UK company Mitchells & Butlers the two chains, who have around 50 venues each, have launched an app to order food or drink.
Phil Urban, CEO of Mitchells & Butlers, said:
“My teams have been working flat out to prepare for our customers to return safely, and we are delighted to welcome them back.”
Detailed plans include:
- Reducing customer capacity to ensure social distancing measures can be adhered to
- Placing tables at a safe distance
- Encouraging guests to order drinks at table through the Order At Table App, but they can queue at the bar, with clearly defined floor spacings in place
- Taking management through a step-by-step approach to opening, which will ensure businesses run safely for staff and customers
- Providing staff training material online
- Interviewing team members prior to returning to work, and pre-shift checks to ensure no one has coronavirus symptoms
- Placing directional and spacing signs at venues and ensuring staff are on hand to help customers navigate these measures
- Placing sanitising stations within venues
- Taking cashless payments wherever possible
- Cancelling all live entertainment
- Ensuring clear and clean tables, free of condiments and cutlery
- Introducing heightened cleaning routines throughout the businesses
- Allowing staff driving their own car into work, to arrive in uniform. However, if using public transport, or someone else’s car, they must change on arrival
- Allocating kitchen teams into cohorts wherever possible so the same people always work together
- Marking kitchens for correct spacing - where the required spacing is difficult, setting up workstations back-to-back or side-by-side
- Ensuring there are heightened cleaning regimes for all toilet areas and promotion of good hand washing
The company, which employs over 40,000 people across all its brands, has accessed the Job Retention Scheme, the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loans Scheme and Business Rates Relief.
Phil concluded: “All schemes have been welcomed and the Job Retention Scheme is the only reason we have been able to protect all the jobs we have in the business, although we have elected to top up salaries where applicable.
The Business Rates Relief has reduced the deficit we have been operating with and has been essential in helping the business survive this prolonged period of closure.”
The government has published COVID-19 secure guidance to support businesses to reopen, and keep workers and customers safe so they feel confident to return. To find out about measures your business needs to implement to reopen safely, there is an online tool, which will direct you to guidelines specific to your type of workplace.
If you run a business and would like to know which of the coronavirus support schemes you are eligible for, you can use the business support finder tool. It takes just minutes to complete and will help you easily find support for your business.
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