Hospitality Mavericks Podcast interview

I’ve long been a fan of the podcast Hospitality Mavericks, so I was really excited to be asked by its host Michael Tingsager, to join him to chat about my work as an executive coach and running leadership development programmes.

We talk about the difference between leadership and management, how to build a strong, happy and engaged team, changing expectations of work life and just some of the challenges facing business leaders today.

I also share my own story of how I moved from hospitality and food & drink branding and communications to become a business coach, and how I build healthy routines and lots of exercise to look after myself.

You can listen to the podcast on all the usual podcast channels from Spotify, Apple, Google, Amazon and below on YouTube.

I highly recommend all the podcasts on Hospitality Mavericks!

Find them all here: Hospitality Mavericks >

International Women's Day - Women Chefs

My International Women’s Day shout-out goes to my daughter Bea who’s had a huge influence on me choosing to specialise in coaching and leadership training in hospitality and making it a better, happier, healthier place to work for everyone, especially women. 

In the depths of the pandemic, aged just 17, Bea decided she wanted to be a chef and set off across the country to become an apprentice at The Pig Hotel, near Bath. Her interview was the day before the November 2020 lock-down began, and she was finally able to start as soon as hospitality could reopen outside only in April 2021.

Bea had grown up surrounded by chefs and food producers, being dragged on farm tours and to food festivals as a tiny child while I ran my field-to-fork experience business Food Safari. Trips and holidays always involved going to markets, food shops and restaurants. Perhaps it was inevitable she’d end up interested in food!

At the time we talked about how challenging life as a chef is, especially for women, physically hard work, emotionally draining, incompatible with being a mum, and still often a male-dominated, sometimes misogynistic, chauvinistic world.  Like all good teenager daughters, she ignored my advice and off she went. I couldn’t be prouder!

Things ARE shifting and hospitality is becoming a better place to work for everyone with more awareness of diversity, calling out unacceptable behaviour and attitudes and looking after people’s wellbeing.

Women in hospitality make great leaders

And, of course, there are many inspirational women chefs out there, not just the big names you see on TV, but in every cafe, pub and restaurant across the country.

Women make fantastic leaders:

• collaborative

• empathetic and supportive

• good at listening and communicating

• creative

• driven and determined

• tenacious

It’s been fascinating working with some of you in my coaching & leadership workshops, and I look forward to meeting more of you!

Here are some photos of Bea’s early days at The Pig in 2021 and more recently.

Shift Your Perspective

Shift your perspective

Moments of high stress can warp your perception of reality, making you feel like the world is out to get you.

Our brains are hard-wired to sense threat and tend to overreact in stressful situations.

Changing perspective allows us to release thinking patterns that no longer serve us and to see the world through fresh eyes. 

What can you gain from looking at things another way?

Imagine you are a fly on the wall, or a bird in the sky - how would things look from up there?

HOW TO SHIFT YOUR PERSPECTIVE

• Stop and notice how you feel.

•  Accept that feeling, don't push it away.

• Create distance by naming it out loud or writing it down.

• Change your surroundings.

• Breathe

• Ask yourself how much this will matter in a month, what about a year?

• What are you grateful for?

• What would your wisest most supportive friend say about this?

• What's a different way to see it?

• Now move forward.

How to manage stress & build resilience

How do you deal with stress and build personal resilience?

Are things getting too much at work or at home, or juggling work and home life?

The first step is to be aware of when things are getting on top of you and stress levels are rising.

You might start feeling resentful, you might notice things are keeping you awake at night, or impact your mood more than they should. Do you find yourself complaining about things to family and friends? Have you tried asking for support or a change to find nothing improves?

When this happens it’s time to start to focus on your well-being.

What’s within your control?

You can’t control your emotions, but you can start to be aware of them and choose how to respond. If you’re under a lot of pressure, become aware of how much time and energy you spend worrying about things you can’t control. This will help you to reduce feelings of overwhelm or uselessness.

• What is within your control?

• What can you influence?

• Let go of the things that you can’t control or change.

Tips to manage stress At Work

1. Take breaks, even if it’s just for a walk around the block.

2. Remember to have fun. Laughter makes us feel good.

3. When you feel stressed, step away for a moment and focus on your breath.

4. Don’t be afraid to ask for help when things get too much. You don’t have to do it alone.

5. If it’s getting too much, is there someone you can talk to? If not your manager, a colleague, a partner, a friend?

Tips to look after yourself At home:

1. Make time to get outside - fresh air and sunlight are good for our health and our brains.

2. Find some form of exercise that you enjoy and can make a habit, it doesn’t have to be running a marathon, it could just be a short walk.

3. Build good bedtime routines to promote good sleep.

4. Make time for your friends and family, connecting with other people is vital to our wellbeing.

5. Just do NOTHING sometimes.

Is it time to review your purpose for the year ahead?

Is it time to review your purpose for the year ahead?
The Christmas holidays and the start of the New Year are a time when we all tend to think about what matters most to us, we reevaluate and set ourselves ambitions for the year ahead. 

As business leaders, it's a good time to do the same for our business, not least because this is a time when your employees often decide "New Year, New Job... and in this recruitment crisis you probably want them to stick with you.

A clearly articulated purpose achieves two things:

• Defines and clarifies your strategic objectives

• Inspires and motivates your team and gives meaning to what they do

Do you have a clearly defined purpose?

Putting man on the moon

There's a frequently quoted story (it may be apocryphal) about a cleaner at NASA being asked on a visit by President John F Kennedy what his job was. His answer: "I'm helping to put a man on the moon."

Why it matters

Studies have shown that companies with a well-articulated purpose have lower turnover rates and higher levels of employee engagement. They: Attract and retain the best people Boost productivity Improve morale and engagement

Reality... we're not there yet

According a 2019 survey of over 540 worldwide businesses by Strategy&, PWC:

• More than half weren’t even “somewhat” motivated, passionate, or excited about their job 

• 28% reported feeling fully connected to their company’s purpose. 

• 39% said they could clearly see the value they create, 

• 22% agreed that their jobs allow them to fully leverage their strengths 

• 34% thought they strongly contribute to their company’s success.

What goes wrong?

Too often purpose statements are generic, non-specific and lack authenticity, which leads to : a lack of direction, people feeling lost, disengaement and low motivation How can your team help your business to achieve its goals, if they don't know where they fit in?

Ask yourself

• Why do we exist? 

• What value are we giving our customers? 

• How and why are we unique? 

• Could someone differentiate our purpose from our competitors? 

• Could our team say what it is?

Live & Breathe it

Defining your purpose is just the beginning. If you can't live and breathe it, it's worthless. So make sure it's relevant, and achievable, and that you and your employees have the resources they need to deliver it.

How to build a happy hospitality team

Happy customers start with happy start who are united by shared values and purpose.

So how do you built a team of committed, motivated and succesful people?

Fact: it does include paying more money….

1. Creating a positive culture or community
   A culture where people are brought together by shared values and a common purpose, creates buy-in and provides a focus. It inspires people to go above and beyond to offer the best customer experience.

2. Be an emotionally intelligent manager
   People rarely quit a bad job, they quit a bad manager. Be a leader who is available, encouraging, empathetic, consistent, reliable calm, open-minded and self-aware and you will build a team that performs better and has higher job-satisfaction.

3. Give people a voice and scope for meaningful work
   Invovle people in decision-making and change, listen to their opinions, , value their experience, check-in with them and show your appreciation regularly to build mutual trust and autonomy.

4. Give them the opportunity to grow
   Most people say they would stay in a job longer if they had the opportunity to learn and grow. Support people in their personal development, let them take risks, give foward-looking feedback [feed-forward] and consider informal mentoring, not just formal training.

5. Remember the whole person
   Create a supportive environment that respects people's home lives and encourages a healthy balance . Be flexible where possible, be aware of part-time workers other responsibilities (student's exams for example), Encourage people to set boundaries around breaks or routines to switch off at the end of a shift.

Ask yourself:

• How committed are your team?

• How strong is your culture or community?

• How could develop more shared values & purpose?

• Do you know when to lead and when to manage?

• Do you listen to individual’s views? Do you ask for them?

• Do you value their experience? Do you tell them?

• Do you look after the whole person?

• Do you set healthy boundaries to enable breaks during the day or so they can switch off when they go home?

• How do you support their growth & development?

To explore more ideas about how to build a happy, motivated team who will stick by you when business is thriving and when times are challenging. . .

Join my free online workshop

Stay & Thrive: Build a Strong Happy Team

January 16th, 10 - 11.30am

Sign up here and you’ll receive a link to zoom nearer the time.

10 Marketing Tips for reopening hospitality in 2021

After months of closure restaurants, pubs, cafés and hotels now have a roadmap for reopening in spring 2021.

With hospitality managers and operators under huge pressure to get everything right for reopening, it’s all too easy to put marketing down as an unnecessary time and cost, but the restaurants, pubs and other hospitality businesses that will get back on their feet fastest will be the ones who communicate regularly with their customers.

With constant changes to the rules and regulations and understandable nervousness on the part of some consumers about being in busy public places again, it’s vital that hospitality businesses communicate regularly with customers to show you are ready to welcome people back, have thought about their safety and that they can come out and enjoy themselves.

Here are my Top 10 marketing tips for reopening:

1. Create an emotionally rich and engaging relationship

   
   One thing that the last year of lockdowns has taught us is to be grateful for things we have always taken for granted - not least being able to pop out to meet friends at the pub or enjoy someone else’s cooking at a restaurant. People have started to appreciate the emotional connection they have with their local pub or neighbourhood restaurant or with somewhere they hold fond memories of or dream of visiting.
   Understand that emotional connection with your customers (past, current and future) and use it to bond with them. Marketing communications should be honest, empathetic, generous and authentic. Develop the personality and story of your brand and share your experiences of the last year and your hopes for the future in a way that makes your audience want to be part of your story and support your future.
   
   

2. Review your target audience

   
   Has your audience changed over the last 12 months due to travel restrictions:
   - can you gain new customers who are staying in the UK for their holidays. How do you reach with them?
   - can you connect with more local customers who are staying closer to home and now recognise what they have on their doorstep?
   - have customer expectations changed? If you traditionally have an older audience they may need more reassurance about how you will keep them safe. A younger audience may be more concerned about things they are now restricted from doing.
   - do review your offer, your menu and your price points and make sure they are right for your current audience.
   
   

3. Sell the dream through good photos and videos

   
   What we all need right now is to get out of the house, see friends and family and have someone else do the cooking and washing up! Use photos and video to appeal to this emotion and show people that they can go out and relax - photos speak a 1000 words.
   Update images or create a short video of your outside space if you have it or of your ‘social distanced’ indoor dining area. Film a virtual tour - on your phone is fine.
   It goes without saying that photographs of dishes and ingredients whet the appetite of hungry diners - but think beyond the obvious and give a sneak peek behind-the-scenes.
   
   

4. Communicate a clear and consistent policy

   
   While nobody really wants to read all the rules and restrictions any more than you want to enforce them, do make sure you have published your policies on your website and link back to them from elsewhere. There are so many ongoing changes that people do need to be reminded what the general rules are as well as anything unique to your venue and it can avoid awkward and embarrassing moments when guests arrive.
   Communicate with customers about any new safety precautions you’re taking and the government rules and regulations you need to follow (mandatory reservations, gathering information for contact tracing, etc.) Remember to review your cancellation policy too.
   
   

5. Keep your audience updated everywhere you can

   
   During the next few months your competitors will be vying for your customers’ attention, so make sure you are front of mind and that they can find out what they need to know about you wherever they connect with you. Make time to update your website with your plans for reopening including your new opening hours, menus and anything else that’s new (garden bar, gazebo, marquee?). It’s quick and easy to post on social media, but also make time to refresh your Tripadvisor, Facebook and Instagram bios and any listing sites you appear on.
   
   

6. Review your Google Business Page

   
   Make sure you’re set up on Google My Business. It’s free, easy to use, and allows you to manage your online presence across Google, including Search and Maps. It is often the first place people find your information when searching specifically for your business or just searching your town or location for somewhere to visit. Add fresh images, and make sure your introduction is up to date and relevant.
   
   

7. Get the best out of social media

   
   Social media is perhaps the easiest and most effective way to keep your audience up to date and engaged as it’s easy to post regular updates. On Instagram use stories or reels to tell the story of reopening your venue and give your audience an insight into everything that is going on behind the scenes. This will create a sense of anticipation but can also be a relaxed way to convey the measures you are taking to make people safe. If you dare go there, TikTok is starting to play a part in developing brand stories and audience engagement. Here are some ideas try:
   - Create recipe videos
   - Take followers on a virtual tour
   - Create a “behind-the-scenes” video of the kitchen staff preparing meals
   - Interview employees and share their experiences
   - Hold a live stream Q&A session with followers
   
   

8. Create long-form evergreen content

   Create long-form evergreen content for your website whether that’s telling your story on an ‘About us’ page or creating a news section or blog. This is content that isn’t time-sensitive and includes keywords that you want to be known for that will drive traffic to your site. Begin by drawing up a list of three to five keywords you want to improve your rankings for – terms that people may search for and that are relevant to your business.
   Blogs can help your website appear authoritative. You can write content that answers common questions, helps customers understand something, or solves problems (like things to do on a rainy day in your location or introducing them to your team or favourite food & drink producers.
   
   

9. Don’t forget email marketing

   Email marketing is a really useful tool for driving customer loyalty and engagement as well as keeping people updated. If you capture customers email addresses on booking (online or in person) invite then them to sign up to receive email news from you. You can also ask people to sign up via your website. Use an email marketing service like Mailchimp which will help you comply with GDPR data regulations and enable you to create a professional looking template.
   -  Don’t make emails ‘salesy’ or pushy – share other news about what’s going on in your area or things you’ve been doing, reading or listening to.
   - That said don’t be afraid to include a clear call to action to book.
   - Link your email newsletter content to your website and blog, including short excerpts in the newsletter with links to read more on your website, this encourages people to engage more with your brand.
   - Send to many, write to one – approach every email as though it’s personal.
   - Be consistent in email frequency and make sure you keep topics varied and interesting.
   - Save time and effort by planning a couple of months topics in advance. 
   
   

10. Encourage reviews

    Reviews on platforms such as Facebook, Google My Business and TripAdvisor are powerful ways to build your reputation. Your business is more likely to show up in Google’s local pack if it has reviews that mention keywords you’re trying to rank for and the town/area where you are based. I often speak to businesses who understand that these reviews count but don’t know how to generate them, one way to do this is to include a call to action on your website, you can download a Google Review widget from your google. Another way ask people in a fun way on your menus or other signage. See our blog on managing your online reputation>

2021 UK Restaurant Trends and Predictions

How the world has changed in a year! When I look back at my restaurant and hospitality predictions for 2020 they seem to come from another world where we took for granted being able to pop to the pub or meet friends for dinner. As a society, we have come to recognise that restaurants, pubs and hotels help to fulfil the basic human need to connect with others and to shape social relationships.

Boom or Bust for restaurants in 2021?

If 2020 taught us anything, it’s that it’s impossible to predict the future, so the idea of making any predictions or looking at hospitality trends for 2021 seems like a foolish exercise. There are those who predict a boom in the hospitality sector in the second half of 2021. Jay Rayner wrote in The Observer in early January: “There will be a desire to spend, which has to be good both for the economy in general and hospitality in particular.”. In July and August after the first lockdown, people flocked back to support hospitality businesses, albeit gradually at first and encouraged by the Eat Out to Help Out scheme. As soon as it’s permitted and safe to do so, we can expect to see a pent up demand to eat out, meet friends for a drink and enjoy the warmth of hospitality again.

Yet, starting the new year in another full lockdown with expectations that it will last until spring, the hospitality industry faces enormous challenges in 2021 and is at risk of losing almost 50% of normal revenue streams and seeing huge numbers of redundancies. The British Beer and Pub Association and the British Institute of Innkeeping and UKHospitality have published findings that suggest:

• 72% of members expected to operate at a loss and to be unable to survive because of the collapse in trade.

• Seven out of 10 UK pubs and restaurants fear they will become financially unviable and forced to close in 2021 as a result of damaging Covid-19 restrictions

• By February 2021 there would be 750,000 fewer jobs in the sector compared with earlier this year.

The Future Shock report, from CGA and UKHospitality, outlines the difficult year for the pub, bar and restaurant sector and sets out the challenges and opportunities facing the industry into 2021 indicates:

• A £53.3bn year-on-year drop in sales between the start of April and the end of September.

• Falling consumer confidence, with 78% of British adults concerned about the long-term financial implications of the pandemic.

• 21% of consumers said they would eat and drink out less frequently than before

• Hesitant business confidence, with 27% of leaders of multi-site groups predicting they will be unviable by mid-2021 with current levels of support.

• insight from recent research commissioned by Marcus Wareing found that 34% of consumers expected to spend less when they returned to restaurants.

2021 will be about settling into a new rhythm and catering to diners in new and innovative way. Here are some of our predictions for the UK restaurant trade in 2021. Several of the predictions for last year seem even more relevant today than they did 12 months ago.

1. Home delivery and finish-at-home meals become the norm.

2020: We predicted that restaurants and pubs should do more to tap into the trend for home delivery with the potential to reach new audiences and increase turnover at quieter times. We wrote: “There’s particular scope for more sophisticated options from high-end restaurants. Yet operators will face a challenge to adapt to this fundamentally altered business model.
“

Lockdowns forcing the closure of hospitality since March have forced hospitality businesses to switch their business model overnight to offer take-home meals in order to keep some of their staff employed and their businesses afloat. New businesses have sprung up, such as Restaurant Kits, to facilitate this trend without the high costs of delivery platforms like Deliveroo and Uber Eats.

2021: We expect to see more businesses find new revenue streams through diversification into take-home meals, cook at home kits and restaurant branded products on the shelves. With no end in sight to restrictions, taking the restaurant experience home or giving yourself a night off cooking, has never seemed more important. While there seemed to be some saturation in demand for home delivery/restaurant kits during autumn, we can expect to see growing demand in 2021 and the launch new platforms and technologies that make it easier for restaurants to improve systems for ordering and management.

2. The Rise of Ghost Kitchens

Until this year ghost kitchens where food is prepared and distributed, but no customers are served were perceived as a niche phenomenon in our cities. In 2021 they will become part of the next normal. While high rents in city centres are unsustainable more hospitality businesses and chefs will move away from the high street towards more affordable ghost kitchens. The beauty of a ghost kitchen is that it allows your operation to run leaner and meaner than ever before.

Before the pandemic, revenue for online food delivery in Europe was experiencing double-digit growth and was expected to exceed £19bn by 2023. In the UK, Foodstars, Jacuna Kitchens and Deliveroo are just a few of the third-party delivery platforms to have entered the game. Yet virtual kitchens are not just for the big operators, with kitchens offering hired spaces they can be a great stepping stone for new businesses in a similar way to businesses which tested a concept through a street-food offering, people will start a virtual kitchen first and then open a bricks-and-mortar site when the hospitality sector can open up again.

2. Provenance, Sustainability and tackling food waste

2020: We predicted an increased awareness in reducing the use of single-use plastics and reducing food waste and encouraged operators to demonstrate the steps they were taking to make improvements. The reality has been that we’ve gone several steps backwards and seen wide-spread use of disposable cups and packaging with take-away drinks and meals. The constant stop-starting of operations as lockdowns and closures have been imposed at short notice has seen an increase in food waste.

2021: With Brexit complete and increased customs tariffs the price of imported ingredients will increase and the importance of sourcing locally will become all the more critical. We should expect to see more British grown produce on our plates. Hospitality businesses will have to rapidly adapt their supply chains, their workforce and shift their long term planning. How they will do this is still uncertain, but many businesses will have to become more reliant on local communities and markets.

3. Eating for Immunity

2020: We suggested that consumers were likely to seek healthy options on weekdays and treat themselves at the weekend and that operators should offer healthy options as well as occasional treats.

2021: Immunity will be the new buzzword for 2021. The pandemic has caused us all to think more about how a good diet can improve our health and immunity. While heavily emphasing the nutritional value of dishes on your menu

4. Contactless technology everywhere

2020: Our 2020 predictions for the importance of technology have been critical this year to reduce contact and enable online orders. We predicted that consumers would more regularly use apps and mobile technology: “Technology will transform the way consumers order food and drink and to change how we book too. It’s clear that personal devices will play a critical role in the restaurant experience, from QR-code enabled menus, to mobile order-ahead options, minimizing contact is important to consumers and has effectively gone from short-term fix, to key priority.”

2021: There has been significant investment in developing new and improved technology to help hospitality operators improve safety for staff and customers and we will continue to see new apps and technology rolled out in 2021. Even operators who have previously been reluctant to adopt systems such as QR codes, remote ordering and contactless payment will be forced to implement these new technologies due to customer expectations. The aim is to make the entire process contactless, so consumers can feel safer and enjoy a convenient, hassle-free experience.

5. Keep engaging with your customers

With prolonged closures and constant changes to rules and restrictions, hospitality operators have been forced to communicate regularly with customers whether through social media, email newsletters or PR. If the experience you offer your customers is one that makes them feel looked after and treated when they visit your pub, restaurant or hotel, it follows that you need to continue to do this even while you are closed.

While the pressure facing operators for both time and budget means it’s all to easy to put marketing down as an unnecessary time and cost, it’s vital that you continue to communicate with your customers (current and future) and maintain an emotionally rich and engaging relationship with your followers.

The most successful hospitality businesses that will emerge from the train wreck of 2020, will be those who understand the emotional connection and use it to bond with their customers. Marketing at its best should be honest, empathic, generous and authentic. It combines brand building with narrative to develop your business into a character with its own personality – one that customers want to see progress and support through the challenges that 2021 holds, and whose story they want to be a part of.

6. Family-friendly dining

2020: We suggested that restaurants and pubs should review their family-friendly dining options, while not necessarily offering children’s menus, but making the experience as welcoming as possible to parents and children. With restrictions on meeting and dining with people from outside your household, restaurants became dependent on bookings from single households and bookings from families have become all the more important.

2021: While it seems unlikely that we’ll be able to dine out with friends and colleagues in the first half of 2021, restaurants and pubs must develop ways to appeal to families and give people a strong incentive to dine out, when permitted, to celebrate family occasions or just for a break from routine.

7. Eat and drink local

City centre footfall is at an all-time low, even during periods when restrictions have eased, office workers based at home and no international tourists, town and city centre venues have taken the biggest hit during the pandemic, while restaurants and pubs in residential areas and the countryside have been supported by customers staying local. While footfall may increase in our cities in the second half of 2021, consumers will remain inclined to stay local and support businesses on their doorsteps.

This is a real opportunity for community-based businesses, which are often independent operators. To survive operators must may more attention than ever to their local audience and not rely on attracting customers even from the other side of the city. With many vacant spaces and potentially lower rents, as landlords look to fill their properties again, this also creates new opportunities for brave start-up businesses, chefs going it alone for the first time and entrepreneurs who’ve been held back before by the high costs of starting a bricks and mortar business.

8. The return of warm hospitality

Even when open, the need for strict hygiene measures, social distancing, and rules on household mixing, have put hospitality operators under huge stress and required them to prioritise policing the rules over offering warm hospitality and personal connections. The requirement to wear face masks and, in some cases, the introduction of contactless ordering and payment has taken away so much of what customers love about going out to eat and drink and the reason why people love working in the industry. In the short periods, restaurants and pubs were open in 2020 we all had experiences of overly officious and understandably stressed staff, being a bit abrupt and sometimes plain rude.

Yet we all crave the warmth of human contact, a bit of friendly banter at the bar or with the waiter, or some nosey people-watching of the next table. Restaurant and pub operators who can find ways to inject the usual warmth and conviviality into dining out will be the first to bounce back. It will be vital to give staff the training to manage any rules or expectations with grace and charm and to look for those extra touches which make the customer feel welcome and valued.

Hopes & Fears for Hospitality in 2021

At this time of year, I usually publish my restaurant industry trends and predictions for the year ahead, but if there’s one thing that this year has taught us, it’s that it’s impossible to predict the future, or even the next month.

So, here are a few thoughts about hopes and fears for the restaurant and pub trade in 2021 from my clients and colleagues in hospitality.

Piers Baker, The Sun Inn, Dedham and Church Street Tavern, Colchester:

“I believe 2021 is a major opportunity for a reset of our industry so that the dire straits we found ourselves in March won’t be repeated. What needs addressing? The beer tie, upward only rents, better landlord/tenant relationships, business rates, VAT and insurance. Every hospitality business knows it, the government must (more reason for a Minster of Hospitality). Sustainability, health and a better understanding of the importance of food in our diets for our ability to combat disease. This must start in schools but our industry can play a massive role in this. From employment, partnerships with education, understanding and sourcing of food.

Mid-March, our financial year ending June 2020 was on track to be our best to date. Lockdown meant it ended up being our worst. But the way our customers have reacted since July has given me great hope for 2021 once restrictions are lifted for good. I have taken greater steps to be financially leaner, using technology to make us more efficient, paying suppliers earlier, creating a financial backstop. There is still 3-4 months of hardship and unknowns ahead. Beyond the annoyance and frustration of the government, I do feel hopeful, we will survive and thrive.”

WIlliam Griffiths, The Angel Hotel, Abergavenny and The Walnut Tree Inn:

“We weren't surprised to learn of a new lockdown being imposed in Wales, having seen the cases continue to rise over the past few weeks, despite the additional hospitality restrictions which have been in place. It would be useful to have more clear communication on how long this is expected to last, as the current review every three weeks, means we will have to second guess decisions again, in order to try and give customers and suppliers notice for either reopening, or further cancellations. We already know it's not feasible for us to operate under the alert level three restrictions, therefore, realistically don't expect to be able to reopen now until the Spring.”

Peter Lloyd, Sticky Mango, London:

“It’s difficult to have a balanced point of view when you're trying to save your business. It goes without question that we have to put the safety of our staff, guests and public first, but there needs to be a more targeted approach to how we contain the virus. The reality is we are being denied the right to protect our businesses and livelihoods and not being supported enough by the government. The new grant scheme just doesn’t do enough to cover the fixed costs of rent, utilities, pension and NI contributions let alone the costs and wastage of having to reopen, close down, reopen and close down again. There is no doubt this is a tragic time for all involved but if we don’t get more support we just won’t be here when the dust has settled and the economy needs us all to perform to bounce back. With differed VAT bills due, bounce back loans to repay and forecasted business it’s really not looking good for 2021.”

Brendan Padfield, The Unruly Pig, Suffolk:

“Just as we thought the UK may be turning a corner, I am nervous as to what setback may be caused by the advent of a mutant strain of COVID-19. The hospitality industry is on its knees. If we are going to be able to sustainably support two million-plus jobs as the third largest sector employer, continued government support via a rates holiday and a 5% VAT rate is critical.

COVID-19 has brought out the very best and the very worst in people. My fear for 2021 is that some of the discourteous, selfish and abusive behaviour towards some members of my team and others in hospitality has now become ingrained in society. My hope is that the acts of kindness, loyalty, support and encouragement shown by the majority of customers will continue in abundance. My belief and firm conviction is that it will.“

As the vaccine means that by the summer, things should be getting back to something more normal, I hope that eventually, we will get back to what we love doing - delivering lovely food, great service and making our customers smile. That is why we do what we do because there is simply nothing better in life than the buzz of a busy restaurant s full of happy customers. But will summer 2021 see a downturn in comparative trade as all the benefits of ‘Staycation 2020’ evaporate with larger numbers of customers than normal choosing to holiday abroad?”

How to write a press release

If you have exciting news to share about your business, it can be easy to share it with people face-to-face, but translating that energy and confidence in a written press release can be harder. Here are my tips for writing a press release that will make your story stand out:

1. Keep it simple, refreshing and to the point. If your story’s worth telling, you should be able to summarise it in one sentence.

2. Don’t go over the top - no boasting - it’s not just a case of bigging up what you do. Stick to the facts and don’t exaggerate. If the story is newsworthy you won’t need to exaggerate.

3. Avoid hyperbole and cliché - words like ‘passion’ and ‘award-winning’ are overused and are an immediate turn off to journalists and readers. Write as you would naturally talk to someone using your own voice.

4. Equally there's no need to adopt a bland impersonal tone in your press release give it a bit of your own personality.

5. Make it relevant - I recommend creating a few different versions with different angles for your local media, for trade/business press and for national consumer mags and newspapers.

6. Keep it short and sweet. You don’t need to put all the detail in a press release. One page is plenty perhaps with a few notes or details on a second page. Leave your reader wanting more!

7. Do steer clear of puns or wordplay - this will mean nothing to busy journalists, scrolling through their inbox.

8. Don’t bury your ‘top line’ Most journalists don’t have time to open all the press releases they receive – never mind read them all the way through. So don’t make the mistake of burying the most interesting part – commonly known as the top line – at the bottom of your press release. Get it in the very first line.

9. Put the story in the body of an email - don’t rely on people to open attachments. Remember that journalists are often on the move, so they may be reading your release on their mobile.

10. Quotes bring the story alive. They should add insight and opinion - appeal to the senses with colour and flavour. Don’t use quotes to state or repeat facts. And make sure they sound like you as if you were talking to someone in person.