10 minute read
To dine or not to dine
The dining-in dilemma
I n d o o r d i n i n g h a s r e s u m e d s i n c e l a t e J u l y w h i c h m e a n t t h a t r e t a i l e r s a r o u n d t h e c o u n t r y w e r e a l s o f r e e t o o p e n i n d o o r s e a t i n g a r e a s f o r t h e f i r s t t i m e i n 1 8 m o n t h s . H o w e v e r , m a n y r e t a i l e r s h a v e d e c i d e d n o t t o o p e n t h e s e a r e a s b e c a u s e o f t h e m i n e f i e l d o f i s s u e s t h a t c o m e s w i t h i t . F i o n n u a l a C a r o l a n l o o k s a t w h y i n d o o r d i n i n g i s s t i l l s u c h a b o n e o f c o n t e n t i o n f o r r e t a i l e r s
Vincent Jennings, chief executive of the CSNA, says there has been “zero accommodation or willingness to accommodate any distinctions whatsoever” for indoor dining within the convenience sector
Being permitted to do something and being able to do it are two completely different things. Retailers around the country have been dealing with the issue of whether to open their indoor dining facilities over the past few weeks and many it seems decided it just wasn’t worth it. From too much legislation and not enough staff to enforce it, some retailers have decided that the government’s public health regulations need to be adapted in order for them to take the leap of welcoming their customers back indoors.
Since 26 July, indoor hospitality has been allowed to re-open with a list of government regulations and protocols in relation to evidence of customers’ Covid-19 vaccination.
According to the regulations: “Business owners and management who are operating indoor hospitality should adhere to their sector-specific guidelines in addition to implementing the guidance for indoor hospitality.”
This is all well and good but unfortunately for the retail sector the guidelines did not seem to be very “sector-specific”. The initial guidelines made no clear differentiation between casual indoor dining in a shop/coffee shop/takeaway and the entirely different beast of indoor dining in a restaurant or bar that serves alcohol. Dwell times are different and the risks associated with alcohol do not come into play in a retail environment but those putting together the guidelines completely failed to acknowledge this.
The guidelines also state that all businesses need to ensure processes are in place and staff are trained so that the business is operating within the approved legislation. Hiring staff has reached crisis levels in the retail sector at present so there is little chance of a business finding extra staff members to police the new protocol or indeed finding the time to train staff on what is needed when the guidelines were published so close to the reopening date.
Zero accommodation
Before the guidelines were released, the CSNA had discussions with Minister Damien English about how retail outlets should be treated differently to businesses selling alcohol. However, it seemed to fall on deaf ears as when the guidelines came out all food businesses were treated as equal.
Vincent Jennings, chief executive of the CSNA says there has been “zero accommodation or willingness to accommodate any distinctions whatsoever between the various styles of outlet that provide hospitality from the government guidelines”.
He believes that the regulations were designed by people who have never run a business.
“While the regulations might work in a slow moving fine dining restaurant with a small number of covers, in our operations where we have hundreds of people coming through and only a small percentile wishing to use that facility, you certainly can’t ask every customer coming in for their cert as it’s not relevant and when they make their purchase, you don’t know whether they are sitting down or walking out the door.
“There was no thought whatsoever and no consideration. I know that all of the main players including the McDonalds plus the likes of Costa Coffee are all affected by this and if people can browse inside, why can’t they stay for 20 minutes to consume something?” he questions.
He says that the real problems arise when you throw alcohol into the mix and it seems like the restrictions were devised for pubs and restaurants to prevent people becoming too free and easy and dropping their guard.
“The vast majority of our retailers have said ‘no, we’re not going there’,” he says. “They can’t afford to have a separate staff member dealing with this. And coupled with the fact that we’ve had 18 months of being targeted by a small but incredibly vociferous group of people, this would be just something to further intimidate us with.”
Discrimination
A notice in the window of Maxol Service Station in Sandyford, Co Dublin is a case
The above sign in Maxol Service Station in Sandyford, Co Dublin was posted on Twitter by a customer and has received a lot of support from the public, as well as some opposition
in point. It states that the seating area will remain closed until all customers have equal rights.
“Our indoor dining will remain closed until all our customers can use the facilities,” the poster reads. “We feel strongly about the discriminatory nature of the new measures and will not be party to discrimination and the dilution of our constitutional rights.”
The sign was posted on Twitter by a customer and has received a lot of support from the public (and some against it) saying they will be supporting this business from now on due to this stance. The vaccine passport was always going to divide society and retail groups believe that the indoor dining rules have given an extra cause to those against vaccination.
“Many members will be reluctant to operate what is acknowledged to be a discriminatory system, primarily because they do not wish to be the subject of further invective and bile from that small but noisy section of society that have consistently caused a disproportionate level of disruption within our stores,” says Jennings.
Motorway service stations
Gavin Moran, general manager of Junction 14, M7, Monasterevin Co. Kildare told ShelfLife at the end of July that they had not yet opened their indoor dining. It is understandable why retailers are cautious about reopening due to the vocal population opposed to the vaccine and to mask wearing.
“I had two busloads of ‘anti-maskers’ come through here last Saturday on the way to Dublin for a march,” he says. “Staff and management are already stressed enough as it is without having hassle and abuse from these people.
“It’s taking its toll on the team because we are so stretched with staff. I have 50 full-time positions to fill and I just can’t get people. I was lucky as I got some exceptional third level students and they’ve been great but I really need to fill all my full-time positions so I can still trade as normal in September.”
Aside from the anti-mask brigade, there were other reasons for not reopening their seating area.
“The guidelines were very late coming through,” says Moran. “And then when they came through, they were subject to updating so we wanted to wait. That coupled with severe staff shortages at the moment, we made the decision that we weren’t going to open.”
He says that he knows some retailers will take a more relaxed approach to the guidelines but they are sticking to the letter of the law rather than taking any chances. “We’ve always prided ourselves on doing things right and we don’t want to undo our good work now. So our plan now is to recruit staff and once we have enough staff to open the area we will do so and will follow government guidelines with checking the passports and the contact tracing and all the rest. Until such time we won’t do it as we don’t have the manpower.”
In normal times, Junction 14 Mayfield would have 255 seats indoor and with social distancing this is reduced to 100. Now they are relying on their outdoor seating to accommodate customers.
“We have invested in new benches outside so can currently sit about 80 people outside and at the moment people are happier to sit outside. With the Delta variant spreading like wildfire, people are still cautious about dining inside,” he explains.
Minister Damien English met with parties such as the CSNA before the indoor dining guidelines were released, yet distinctions for different types of food businesses were not implemented
Daybreak Cahir
Another retailer, Alan O’Donnell from Daybreak in Cahir, Co. Tipperary also decided not to open his indoor seating area. “What we’re going to do is leave it a week or two to see how it plays out,” he says. “For us, it’s hard to manage the whole digital certificate; is someone coming in for fuel, are they going to consume on the premises/off the premises? It’s just too much hassle.
“The other problem for us as well is that I’m not sure if we can staff it,” he continues. “We’re under pressure for staff. We’ve lucky in that we have a good takeaway business that works well for us and we have a good seating area outside and the weather is okay so not too many are giving out about it.
“We’re hoping it will sort itself out in the next couple of weeks and that we won’t have to look for the digital certificate. We’ll do it slowly,” O‘Donnell explains.
Amendments for queuing system
A week after the first regulations were published, there was an amendment to the guidelines which provided for a queuing system for self-service facilities.
This amendment states that “while table service is the safest mode of service, counter service can be permitted where safe queueing and compliance with other key requirements can be implemented. This will also apply to food service outlets in retail settings including food courts.”
It goes on to say: “Once the customer has collected their tray, they must make their way to their assigned table. Any extra items the customer orders, other than the food collected at the food counter service area, will be ordered from their table.” It also states that the queuing system should be overseen by dedicated employees and if a customer leaves the premises for any reason they must inform a staff member before re-entry.
There are few retail outlets that could afford to have this level of staff engagement with the customers and really makes the regulations as unworkable as before. Reading through the guidelines makes it crystal clear as to why so many businesses have decided to not open indoor dining and why they are hoping further amendments will enable them to have a workable way of welcoming patrons back through the doors. Many might even wait until all restrictions are lifted. After a tough 18 months of trading with restrictions, it’s not where retailers should be. n
