Newport landlords anticipated 'Freedom Day' delays

Monday, June 21, was the day most Covid restrictions on gatherings and hospitality were due to lift, but that was called off earlier in the month in the face of rising cases and different variants of the virus.

Landlords in and around Newport were not overly surprised when the announcement arrived. And the town has gained some of its bustle back, even without the green light for total freedom.

Brothers Alex and Richard Marsh took over the Swan at Forton in March last year, days before the first lockdown.

Alex said it had been a rollercoaster journey and that the brothers have learned quickly.

"I kind of expected the delay to be honest. I thought with the way things were going it wasn't feasible.

"In some respects I'm quite happy operating the way we are at the moment, it's a little bit frustrating with masks and track and trace but people are used to it now."

He also said that some large groups who had been booked in for meals after restrictions were set to lift have now had to cancel.

"My overriding thing is I'm grateful to have the doors open and be able to have some trade.

Darren Wood of the New Inn, which closed briefly this week after a positive Covid test, said: "Whilst Freedom Day is yet another setback and frustration to the industry, I did see the extension coming, so we didn't get any hopes up at all.

"More than anything the next stage once it happens will hopefully build more consumer confidence, we still haven't seen the return of a number of our customers, especially those who are slightly older in years.

"The industry in general is doing OK, it is the extra 20 per cent trade that we are missing, and this will make a huge difference to any business, it is the difference between making a little bit of money and just about breaking even if lucky.

"The increase in staff costs is a hard pill to swallow, table service throughout the entire site is a costly exercise, and that coupled with increases in the National Living Wage is another hit for the industry following 12 months with pretty much no trade.

"But, we carry on, in the hope that not too many people's habits have changed over the past year or so and that once 'Freedom Day' is upon us that we get back to a trade level similar to where we were pre-Covid times.

"However, as I have said before, the health and wellbeing of our team and our customers has to be at the forefront of everything we do, and until the Government deem it safe to get back to how we used to be then we continue adhering to the rules to keep everyone as safe as possible."

Matt Lorenz and parter Marie Ryley opened Novella Craft and Cocktails in a disused bank last year in between lockdowns, and were able to build up a base of custom quickly.

Matt said: "I'd say we were looking forward to finding out what normal is as unfortunately we don't know what normal feels like for Novella, as we opened in the middle of the pandemic and have known nothing but socially distanced measures and lockdowns since day one.

"We are disappointed in the delayed easing of social distancing measures but we've already learned not to build our hopes up.

"This delay obviously extends the hardships for the sector by weeks more than a great number of businesses can cope with.

"We've been unbelievably fortunate enough to have already picked up such a loyal following and stayed regularly busy enough to keep us going. The guests that we have had in so far have been so fantastic and really made all the difficulties worthwhile.

"We are looking forward to when we can extend the seating capacity of the venue for when we aren't needed to be socially distanced and so that we can fit more tables in and more seats to a table.

"Nothing will change with our table service as a lot of people have found it to be quite nice, relaxed and enjoyable."