There’s no denying that
hospitality has been hit hard by the Coronavirus pandemic, but with pubs and
clubs due to reopen from July 4th, there is some optimism that the sector will
be able to bounce back relatively quickly.
Some challenges will
remain for the medium term at least, but the recent shift from two metres of
social distancing to ‘one metre plus’ means it’s much more feasible for pubs
and clubs to open and operate in a profitable and, crucially, an economically
sustainable way.
Here are some of the obstacles
pubs and clubs will face, not only on day one but going forwards, as the
industry looks to cater for customers who want to get back to a ‘new normal’
and enjoy some leisure time out of the house again.
Cash
or card?
Contactless card payments
have become standard in shops and supermarkets, as it’s better to avoid direct
contact with surfaces – including PDQ keypads and handling cash.
However, many gaming machines are not allowed to accept card payments. Pubs and clubs should have plenty of coin ready for day one and beyond, including till floats and coin-op machines like fruit machines.
Remember different machines need different amounts of change – for example, fruit machines and quiz machines need to be ready to pay out prizes, whereas pool tables and jukeboxes do not.
Keep
your distance
Social distancing will
remain crucial for the foreseeable future, but the guidelines may change fairly
often.
Ahead of the hospitality
sector reopening on July 4th, the ‘two-metre rule’ was joined by ‘one metre
plus’, which allows customers to be closer together if other mitigation
measures are used.
That means avoiding
direct face-to-face positions and using physical barriers like plastic or glass
screens to separate different groups of customers.
Pubs and clubs can also
control the movement of people around the premises, using methods like staggered
arrival times, table service and careful management of how many people can use
the bathrooms at any one time.
Bouncing
back
Many parts of the economy
will be looking to bounce back quickly, and after weeks of staying home, it’s
likely many people will be yearning to get out of the house too.
For pubs, clubs and bars,
that means there’s a huge opportunity to get revenues back to some kind of
normal during the summer, combining drinks and food sales, gaming machines and
any other revenue streams.
Spring was clearly a
challenging time, but as the UK starts to emerge from lockdown, pubs and clubs
that adapt to the changing social distancing guidelines can hopefully welcome
regulars and newcomers alike, and start profitable trade once again.
If you require maintenance checks for your gaming machines as you get ready to reopen, here at Manco Automatics we take pride in working closely with all customers to ensure that their machines work at the peak of their ability. Call us on 0161 870 7777 and we’ll be available to help.