Knapton Consulting Engineers have produced a report on the impact of different social distancing requirements on licensed premises that was produced for the Licensed Vintners Association. It compares the WTO recommended distancing of 1m with the UK Government’s 2m distancing to show the dramatic difference in the number of customers a property can accommodate under these different regimes.  This severely impacts the business’s ability to generate revenue and therefore, its economic viability. This summary table is particularly important.

This currently means keeping people 2m apart, although the industry lobby is aiming to reduce to reduce this to 1m. This means managing  flows of people.  This could be:

– managing time (e.g. appointments with customers so they don’t all arrive at once) – managing space (e.g. managing queues such as we have all seen at the supermarket)
– informing and reminding people to keep their distance.  

Also, anything that can be done, should be done outside where risks are reduced so perhaps a marquee or gazebo for customer check-in, and of course, contactless payment (so e.g. can customers pay online before the arrive) 

https://www.theslta.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/CAPACITY-NUMBERS-IMPACT-REPORT..pdf

About Eirlys Jones

Eirlys is the Commercial Director at North Wales Tourism and can be contacted at eirlys.jones@gonorthwales.org.uk or connect with her on LinkedIn you can also follow her on Twitter @EirlysJones5