Ben Boothman reflects on a rollercoaster year in the hospitality trade

Ben Boothman, Director of The Lancashire Hospitality Co-operation and the man behind well loved local venues such as The Flying Horse, The Baum, Bombay Brew, The Hare on the Hill and The Red Lion reflects on a challenging, yet ultimately rewarding, year for his team and looks forward to an exciting 2021.

Well, it’s not been a year any of us are going to forget in a hurry but perhaps for all the wrong reasons. When we planned to launch Rochdale’s largest hospitality group The Lancashire Hospitality Co-operation we expected some bumps in the road but this was something else. But even still, what an adventure.

Ben Boothman, Director of The Lancashire Hospitality Co-operation

Our first few months have been challenge after challenge and looking at all the things we’ve achieved in this turbulent time makes me confident that whatever life throws at us we’re sure to rise to the occasion.

We managed to use the last lockdown to do some fantastic rebranding of our existing businesses, make some incredible changes and really take some time to focus on making each of our venues the best it can be for the customer.

This second lockdown gives us the chance to go do some fine tuning, we’re going to reopen in December decorated to the nines with some fresh menus and the same bright faces.

The festive period this year is going to be massively important. We all need a little magic to look forward to and what better time to find that than through December and into the new year. We’ve completely pushed the boat out this year because really, we all need a little escape from reality after the year we’ve had, so it seemed the right time to go that extra mile.

From rebranding to a whole new world of regulations all of our staff have been sensational through these last few months, they’ve faced challenging guidelines and regulations all while we completely changed the direction of our businesses behind the scenes. Each and every one of them have been a credit to the company and myself through this pandemic.

It’s a brave thing to shift the direction of some of the towns most beloved premises, especially when it’s at times something new to us and to the town. But Rochdale is changing, it’s moving forward, and we want to be helping to steer that movement.

It goes without saying the hospitality trade is nothing without customers and we can’t think for a second we’d have made it this far without the support of the people of Rochdale. It’s been a trying time and to see people returning to pubs and restaurants, respecting the rules and embracing the changes in our venues has made it all feel worthwhile.

I’m looking forward to just what we can achieve when the world makes it’s way back to normal.

Whatever that is.

Ben Boothman