There is little doubt that the COVID-19 pandemic stunned the hospitality industry during 2020. Business owners have had to grapple with health and safety concerns, shutdowns and curfews – and limited opportunities to trade at full capacity have taken a toll on the industry. Now more than ever, facilities managers need to be alert.
With the recent announcement that businesses in the retail, hospitality and leisure industries will be closed until February, now is a good time to audit your inventory, listen to feedback from staff, and adopt practices that can save money during these difficult times.
Keep it cool in the kitchen
Those working in catering would do well to take a closer look at their energy consumption in the kitchen. With reduced business on the horizon for the foreseeable future, facilities managers must ensure that kitchen appliances are used efficiently during periods of reduced use.
A typical commercial refrigerator uses 70 kWh per day, roughly 41% of electricity consumption across all key appliances within a catering service. There are energy savings to be had by looking at how best to manage stock during periods where businesses cannot operate.
Facilities managers should consider installing temperature monitoring devices, with alerts enabled to prevent goods spoiling. These can be especially useful for those considering delivery services for their food offerings, where wireless thermometer loggers can track temperatures from the kitchen to the customer – providing insight and improving your understanding of the delivery process.
The people problem posed by the pandemic
Roughly 20% of the industry’s workforce was expected to be made redundant or were facing hugely reduced working hours in November 2020, once it became clear that we could expect a second wave of infections.
Business owners have had to make drastic decisions to keep doors open, including reducing staff, and another business shutdown to start the year has not helped concerns that the industry will struggle to recover.
Business owners must look into their payroll to understand how to best approach these difficult times, and individuals must be robust when the opportunity to return to work presents itself.
Facilities managers will have to take into account lower numbers of staff and patrons when businesses can open their doors once again.
A call for representation
All of this has taken place as the hospitality industry backed calls for a minister to be created for the sector.
The UK hospitality industry is responsible for roughly three million jobs, generating £130 billion in activity and resulting in £38 billion in taxation. Despite this, there is not a dedicated minister representing this industry.
Wendy Bartlett, co-founder of caterer Bartlett Mitchell, told Facilitate: “This pandemic has highlighted the need for representation in government for one of the UK’s most prominent sectors. Not only does hospitality employ a huge number of people, but it also makes a significant contribution to UK GDP.”
There is some temporary relief for the industry though, as government recognises a need to support the hospitality sector.
One-off-top up grants to provide relief
A one-off grant for businesses in the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors will provide some short term relief as businesses once again shut their doors.
Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced a one-off top up grant of up to £9,000 per property, in addition to other measures that are aimed to keeping doors open until COVID vaccines have been distributed throughout the country.
In addition to an extension of the furlough scheme, a £594 million discretionary fund has been made available to support impacted businesses while a £1.1 billion discretionary grant funding for local authorities and local restriction support grants worth up to £3,000 a month have also been announced.
Make sure your business is ready for customers
Despite the setbacks that 2020 has posed business in the hospitality industry, it is important that your business is ready for customers once trading returns to a degree of normality.
Ensure that your business is compliant and that ongoing preventative maintenance continues to take place. Efficient maintenance is both a statutory requirement and a moral obligation.
Consider partnering with an expert such as Voltix Services, to assist with compliance, maintenance, energy and environmental services.
We know that it has been a difficult period, and our team of experts will ensure that your business is ahead of the competition once trading can resume. Contact us today to find out more about how our team can provide high quality maintenance and compliance support for your business.