We’re as concerned as everyone else about the spread of COVID-19, so we wanted to set out some of the measures we have implemented to minimize the potential spread of this virus.

It’s become increasingly apparent over the past few days that Coronavirus (COVID-19) is a threat, not just to public health, but to the functioning of our wider society. In following the advice of the government, we believe that the only path forward is to try to keep operating as normally as is possible in the circumstances. This is a virus that currently has no known vaccine, and it’s clear that we will all be impacted in the coming weeks and months. It’s likely that the majority of us will come into contact with it in the near future, so the only thing we can do is to follow best practice when it comes to personal hygiene in order to try to protect the people in our community who are most vulnerable to it.

To that end, we have made some immediate changes to how we operate our retail business to try to ensure that we can continue to offer our services while putting your mind at rest that every precaution is being taken. Some of these changes are:

·        With immediate effect, and for the foreseeable future, we will be operating on a card / contactless payment only basis. We will not accept cash payments, so please ensure you have a card with you.

·        We will have hand sanitizer available to use for all customers pre and post meal, and on the bar.

·        We have implemented a rigorous cleaning schedule to ensure that door handles and other hard surfaces which could potentially provide a suitable environment for a virus are regularly cleaned.

·        We will avoid setting tables with cutlery etc. until people are seated to avoid the risk of items becoming contaminated prior to use.

·        We will increase signage around the building, encouraging people to wash their hands more regularly.

·        Staff will clear tables wearing disposable gloves and will clean hands immediately afterwards.

·        Staff will wash hands before taking food to tables.

·        Staff will avoid touching their hair and faces unless absolutely necessary, and if they have to for whatever reason they will immediately wash their hands afterwards.

·        Any staff member newly displaying symptoms will be required to self-isolate for 7 days.

Obviously, things are moving very quickly, and we will react accordingly based on advice from the government if the situation becomes more serious. For now, we’re not planning to cancel any events or close our doors until we’re told that this is the right thing to do. We’ll also be working with promoters to ensure that if they decide not to go ahead with an event that we can find a suitable time for it to be rescheduled.