Raising a glass to comeback for Leighton-Linslade pubs

The tenacious town landlords and landladies have been busy undertaking refurbishments during the three month lockdown, whilst they wait for confirmation about when they can reopen.

It was reported on Monday that a group of ministers nicknamed the ‘Save Summer Six’ were pushing for pub gardens to reopen on June 22, but Business Secretary Alok Sharma has since confirmed that it will be July 4 at the earliest when pubs can reopen.

However, many interviewees agree that advice from Number 10 has been vague, and worry that guidance for reopening has been left too late.

Lisa Drew, landlady of The Golden Bell, Church Square, said: “Has there been a lockdown? I can’t tell, I haven’t stopped; we’ve been refurbishing the pub and working flat out!

“We’ve really gone to town; we’ve got a new dart board, new curtains, brick tiles, we’ve sanded the floor and all the outside has been painted.

“Our biggest concern is whether we are allowed to open with the two metre rule instead of the one metre rule, because that restricts us.”

The pub has a thorough plan in place for July, including table service and card payments only, an app to order drinks, and a training session for staff on July 1.

After reopening, each employee will be required to wear PPE and have their temperature taken before work, whilst everything from benches to menus will receive a thorough clean between customers.

Lisa added: “We’re optimistic but nervous. But I think that the processes we have come up with are as safe as they can be so I’m hopeful. My concern is that we get people coming in and going ‘that’s not right’, but I think that they need to realise that we’re learning too. [If you have any questions] please talk to us.”

Meanwhile, five minutes up the road in Hockliffe Street, plans are underway for an anniversary with a difference.

Phil Thompson, landlord of The Bald Buzzard Micropub, said: “It will be our fifth birthday; we opened on July 4 2015.

“But it would be really nice if the government told us exactly what they need us to do. It’s no more than a month away and the breweries need to get themselves up and running; they are currently operating skeleton services. They need time to prepare for a huge upsurge in demand.”

The pub is looking forward to welcoming its regulars back, but there will also be big changes.

There is normally room for up to 20 to 25 people to sit inside, but with a two metre rule in place this would be halved, as would capacity in its courtyard.

Phil and his wife, landlady Alison Thompson, will also be showing people to their seats and taking beer to punters.

Phil added: “We have been using the time productively and having a re-brand, making the best of a bad lot.

“We’ve got new signage, new furniture and carpets, new pictures on the walls and my wife has been re-tiling.

“We’ve had help from the government and along with the takeaway service that’s been seeing us through.

“Fortunately, we know nearly all of our customers and know that they will be sensible.

“I can safely say that there will be a bit of a party, hopefully with a barbecue and lots of nice beer.”

Indeed, for one landlady with a big heart, seeing the regulars again would be a welcome boost after the pub’s sudden closure in March.

Nikki Brodin, landlady at the Black Lion, said: “It was one of the hardest things I had to go through. It still makes me emotional. We had about six hours’ notice to close down on the Friday and it was horrific. I’d just ordered all my change and stock and sending everything back was pretty much impossible.

“I’ve done this for 16 years and never known anything like it.”

Nikki wished to thank her “brilliant” staff who have been sending messages of support whilst on furlough.

She added: “I said to them: ‘Go and get a job as I’ve no idea how long this is gonna take’ - but they all said no. I love them!

“And I definitely want to thank our customers. I couldn’t be more grateful. Without their help we couldn’t do the deliveries and takeaways. Their words of support have been amazing.”

Nikki is waiting for further government advice, and if the Black Lion can reopen, it will either ease out of lockdown as “a shop or a pub”.

Nikki added: “I’m working out all the realistic ways of opening with one or two metre social distancing.

“I’d like to know when we can open and when we can start moving forward.”

Jake Moxham runs the Axe and Compass pub and restaurant in Heath and Reach along with his brother Ryan, and also remembers the shock of being asked to close when Prime Minister Boris Johnson made the announcement on March 20.

Jake said: “It was soul destroying to be honest. I thought we would be given more notice. It was Mother’s Day on the Sunday and we’d got all the stock in.

“There was a lot of food that we were hoping to use and we ended up giving it away to people in the village. We put an honesty box up for people to put a few pounds in and we’ve also been dropping off free roast dinners to the elderly.”

Post lockdown ideas that the brothers have mooted include a one-way system, screens for staff at the bar, lines around the bar floor to stop customers congregating, and automated hand sanitser dispensers for punters on the way in and out.

Through their sister restaurant The Oliver and Hare in Leighton Buzzard, the brothers have been able to organise tempting deliveries with afternoon teas, pies, sunday dinners, and ‘a Mini Gin Festival’.

But Jake added: “If customers don’t have the confidence to visit pubs by Christmas then there’s going to be a problem. Some countries [where pubs have reopened] say that there has been about a 30-40 per cent drop in what they’ve previously done.”

Now, with the potential D-Day as July 4, all the pubs are crying out for guidance.

The government has so far released advice on coronavirus for food businesses, providing information on which pubs could base plans.

The directions, last updated on May 18, include: additional signage; regulating entry; floor markings; vertical signage to direct customers into lanes; regular reminders about social distancing and hand washing; plexiglass barriers at tills and counters if feasible; use of contactless payments where possible; and additional pop-up handwashing stations or facilities if possible.

However, the town’s pubs say proper guidelines for their own industry can’t come soon enough, as Business Secretary Alok Sharma announced on July 4 that further working guidance would be published “as soon as we [the government] can.”

Roger Smith, owner of the White Horse in New Road, Linslade, said: “If it’s two metres it’s gonna kill my pub. It’s small and it won’t be worthwhile opening up.

“I’ve got a garden but it’s no good with the neighbours late at night, and if it rains people can’t all huddle under a gazebo.

“Until they tell me what I have to do or put in place I just have to sit and wait. What’s the point in me going out and buying 30 perspex screens if I only need four?

“But we just get on with it. There’s no point in worrying about something that we don’t know the answer to yet.”

Like the other interviewees, Roger has been able to receive the Retail, Leisure and Hospitality Grant, but argues that unless a one metre rule is in place, Number 10 should still provide financial handouts to help pubs fight back.

He said: “I’m in the hands of the government unless they are going to give us money for the shortfall.

“The one metre rule would save us. Two metres - I’m screwed.”

> Proposed options for pedestrianising Leighton Buzzard High Street were due to be discussed at a Central Bedfordshire Council Traffic Management Meeting on June 9. The LBO will be reporting on the outcome of this meeting to see if more outdoor seating could be provided for town centre pubs.