Three ways to stay open, reopen or prepare for the future

Fraser MacDonald, co-owner of the family-run Bankfoot Inn in Perthshire, talks about pivoting from hotel and pub to fish and chip takeaway to cope with the impact of the coronavirus.

The 18^th century Bankfoot Inn in the village of Bankfoot, Perth had to close at the start of lockdown. “Our Inn’s eight rooms usually make up the bulk of our revenue,” says co-owner Fraser MacDonald. “We’d usually be running at 92% occupancy in April and May, but that’s vanished.”

Seeing an opportunity

Last summer, Fraser and partner Ross Paton trialled a successful takeaway fish and chip menu to cater for the increased seasonal demand. As the lockdown guidelines allow for food delivery and collection, they saw this as an opportunity to offer their newly tried-and-tested takeaway menu.

They advertised the opening of their traditional Scottish fish suppers on Facebook, and had 45 orders on their first night.

Since then, demand has steadily increased, mostly through word of mouth. “We recently had 186 orders on one Saturday night,” Fraser says. “At the beginning of all of this, I would never have believed that was possible.”

Fraser and Ross have also started off-licence sales. “Customers bring their own containers and we sell them our real ale – straight from the tap.”

Steep learning curve

Fraser and the team are still figuring out what works best for the fish and chip shop, and are literally learning on their feet.

The Bankfoot Inn’s old kitchen wasn’t able to cope with demand, so they had to bring in more fryers. “It’s bonkers, but very satisfying,” he says.

They take orders over the phone and have introduced a clearly marked one-way system that only allows three people in at a time while still giving customers the opportunity to chat to each other when collecting their orders.

Overwhelming support

Fraser says feedback from customers has been really positive. “We’re a big part of the community and people want us to be here as a social hub at the end of this. We’re already thinking about how we can keep customers happy after lockdown in a small, intimate venue. And we’re really hoping we can have a big party to thank them for their support at the end of all this.”

Sesh Rao, dental surgeon and owner of Stotfold Dental Clinic, talks about finding advantages in adversity, and how his team is using the lockdown to build relationships and develop its digital presence.

Stotfold Dental Clinic runs two NHS/private dental practices in rural Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire, with a focus on implants and cosmetic work. Dental surgeon Sesh explains that, in line with the government’s coronavirus guidelines, the clinic has put all procedures and appointments on hold, except for emergency treatments.

“Although we’ve had to furlough some staff, we decided to stay open for emergency treatments to support our team and reassure our communities that we’re here for them,” says Sesh. “We think this helps build trust in us and shows we’re able to manage this crisis safely.”

Advantage in adversity

Sesh believes that times of adversity can also create opportunities, and the team is using its downtime to reconnect with existing patients in new ways. “We’re putting out messages on Facebook and Instagram, updating our website with information and guidance, and staying in touch with patients, particularly the more vulnerable ones, on the phone.”

The clinic is seeing a positive response to this proactive, more-digitally focused, approach and is still relatively busy with emergency treatments and calls to patients. “We’re even seeing an increase in new clients seeking emergency treatments,” Sesh says.

While keeping a close eye on cashflow is obviously important, the team’s main focus has been on building goodwill to make sure they have a full client list for when they’re able to offer all their services.

A more digital future

Before the crisis, Sesh says that the practice had invested heavily in paper marketing and advertising. The current situation has helped them appreciate the importance of a more digital and interactive marketing style as it allows them to maintain a more personal relationship with their clients and prospective clients, albeit remotely.

“Going forward, we plan to dedicate more investment and time to online marketing, making our website more useful and accessible, and strengthening our social media presence by making it more interactive.”

Warren Rogers, director of Connection Crew, talks about creating virtual exhibition spaces online while staying true to the company’s ethos of having social impact.

Community interest company Connection Crew “provides the people-power that get events, productions and exhibitions up and running,” says director Warren Rogers. It’s a 200-strong team with 25% of the workforce either previously homeless or at risk of becoming homeless.

At the beginning of the year, 2020 was shaping up to be one of the company’s biggest yet. “The impact of the virus on event cancellations and postponements came as a shock,” Warren says. “We had no idea that we’d be closing our doors in March with no work on the horizon.”

Innovating with speed

Warren recognised that the ‘normal’ exhibition industry is unlikely to start up again for some time, and social distancing will impact how future events are run. The Connection Crew team knew it needed to innovate and diversify its income streams to protect jobs.

“Through our previous work and talking to other similar businesses, we saw an opportunity to recreate the live exhibition experience online,” explains Warren. “Using gaming software, we can turn a 2D website into a 3D virtual space for people to navigate and access embedded content such as presentations, real time calls and downloads.”

Warren and his team quickly launched Stitch – their new venture providing virtual environments and digital services. In essence, they’re able to simulate the physical exhibition space in a virtual environment, allowing exhibitors and attendees to remotely interact with each other and the exhibits.

Upskilling for success

Stitch has been well received by existing customers and Warren is now looking for investment in order to scale up. “We’ve already had some successful client pitches, with more sales and purchase orders starting to come in.”

As a social business, having a social impact and creating opportunities remains central to the company’s ethos. As such, they plan to develop training programmes to upskill people for Stitch roles.

Warren says that while the business has pivoted and launched a completely new venture, they’ve stuck to the field they understand best – events. And, while Stitch looks likely to be a success, they still plan to reopen their original business, Connection Crew, as soon as possible. Warren believes there is a great opportunity to run the two businesses in tandem and reach a wider audience.

“Central to our cause is to ensure we keep Connection Crew afloat to sustain our staff, and this continues to be our core focus.”

Karin and Roy Brett, owners of Ondine, one of Edinburgh’s best-known seafood restaurants, talk about pivoting the business to launch ‘Ondine at home’.

Ondine has been voted Scottish restaurant of the year for the past two years, a testament to the owners’ passion for seafood and hard work over more than a decade.

Before the coronavirus situation, Ondine’s restaurant often filled its 80-cover capacity with both locals and tourists, but the introduction of social distancing had a catastrophic impact on business.

“Business first began to drop off in January as we noticed fewer and fewer tourists coming from China,” says co-owner Karin Brett. “We knew we needed to take the bull by the horns to survive.” With early indications of a big slowdown in trade, the couple acted quickly to engage with their Barclays Relationship Manager, Richie Paul, to discuss the options.

They have since had to take the difficult decision to furlough most of their staff, applied to the Scottish government for a pivotal resilience grant, and taken advantage of a Bounce Back Loan through Barclays to help pay overheads and supply costs.

Reconnecting with customers

After trialling the concept with friends, Karin and Roy have now launched ‘Ondine at home’, which brings their fine dining experience direct to customers. “We’re currently offering a new three-course set menu with a bottle of wine,” explains Karin. “We’ve invested in packaging and include a recipe card with instructions on how best to cook and serve the food.”

At the moment, Karin and Roy are offering ‘Ondine at home’ twice a week, serving up to 160 people. Customers can order and pay in advance over the phone, and choose their preferred time slot for collection or delivery.

“We’ve had really amazing feedback, with orders growing from 25 to 80 couples in our first two weeks,” Karin says. “We’ve even had to take one employee off furlough to support demand. We’re also selling any excess food via local fish and cheesemongers.”

While word-of-mouth has been their most successful marketing strategy, they have also advertised through Instagram, Twitter, email and their website.

With support from their accountant and Richie at Barclays, Karin and Roy are regularly reviewing the sustainability of their new venture. “We’re now looking into how customers could order online, and working with Barclaycard to support online payments.”

Stronger together

There is still a lot of uncertainty about when the restaurant will be able to reopen, and how they’ll be able to operate while ensuring staff and customer safety. “We’ll continue with ‘Ondine at home’ for as long as there is demand for it,” says Karin. “We realise a lot of people may be wary of visiting restaurants for some time to come.” In the meantime, Karin is keeping in touch with her team on their WhatsApp group and is encouraging furloughed staff to upskill through online courses in food hygiene.

Karin and Roy have also connected with similar businesses dealing with the coronavirus situation. “Every week we have an online catch up with restaurateurs from across Scotland to discuss how to move forward and how we can help each other. We’re all trying to stay as positive as we can.”

Rohit Dhillon of 1 Stop Wash, a family-run, eco-friendly dry cleaning business in north London, talks about strengthening its digital strategy using Nextdoor, the neighbourhood hub.

1 Stop Wash, a dry cleaning and laundry business located in north London, has been serving the local community for 18 years, but was forced to close its doors at the start of lockdown. Rohit, who joined the family business last summer after graduating from university, says: “It’s been really tough for our family, especially as five of us work in the launderette along with two other employees.”

The family quickly realised the business was in danger of shutting for good, so they approached Barclays for a Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan. Rohit says, “We applied on the Sunday and the money was in our account on the Monday.”

Building on strong foundations

During the lockdown, the Dhillon family has been providing the elderly and vulnerable with free laundry services and producing cotton masks for the community.  

They have also used the time to develop a new digital strategy. Since joining the family business full time last year, Rohit has been working hard to move the business towards an online order and delivery model, which includes a new website and app. “The strategy was proving successful and we were beginning to scale before the lockdown started.”

A local opportunity

Despite being part of the community for almost two decades the business had struggled to attract a significant following on social media. As he planned for reopening, Rohit wanted to let his community know they’ll be back open for business.

Rohit used Nextdoor, the neighbourhood hub, to reach thousands of neighbours for free¹ – taking advantage of the Barclays offer. A week before they reopened he added 1 Stop Wash to Nextdoor’s ‘Open for Business’ directory and launched their first ‘local deal’. Within a few hours, lots of people had engaged with the offer. “I’m very excited to see how the promotion plays out,” Rohit says. “I think it’s the most effective way for us to get the word out to the local neighbourhood that we’re back in business.”

Re-opening for the ‘new normal’

In line with government guidelines, the family re-opened 1 Stop Wash on 18 May. They have introduced various hygiene and social distancing measures to keep employees and customers as safe as possible.

Rohit believes the new online business delivery model is ideally suited to the current lockdown restrictions, and is hopeful the family will quickly get the business back on its feet.

However, Rohit knows they will need to adapt their promotional plans: “People are less likely to get their suits dry cleaned now, but I think there will be a greater demand for home laundry, such as curtains or bedding.”