"We need to be at the front of the queue": West Midlands restaurants prepare for roadmap out of lockdown
A roadmap for relaxing lockdown is set to be revealed by the prime minister on February 22.
Restaurants across the West Midlands are telling us they need to be 'front of the queue' as non-essential businesses open up again out of lockdown - making them a priority ahead of gyms and non-essential retail
The government is set to announce a roadmap for relaxing lockdown on February 22.
From getting children back to school to reopening pubs, there's plenty of speculation as to how lockdown restrictions might be eased.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson is keen for any relaxation of lockdown to be gradual, with any easements set to be "cautious but irreversible".
With businesses across the region struggling without any substantial income, many say they're at risk of never opening again if restrictions aren't lifted soon. They also argue that the hospitality sector is one of the safest to reopen.
Aasia Baig, Founder of Centenary Lounge in Birmingham & Worcester
Aasia said: "They need to look at hospitality in a different way. It's a very controlled environment, most places are very controlled, they have all of the restrictions in place and everyones got their safety plan in place.
"Restaurants offer a very controlled way of people gathering and getting together. I think they should be opening sooner rather than later. When retail opens, which is really that controlled at all, there's hardly any social distancing and people are touching things and other people are going and retouching those same surfaces and items.There's cleanliness in between, where as with hospitality we're constantly cleaning in between our customers.
"Boris needs to have a think about this and make sure that we're in the forefront of driving this economy out of this situation we find ourselves in."
"The sooner we can open up the better. Whilst we're closed we're just haemorrhaging money there's obviously still creditors, lenders and suppliers that we have payment arrangements with. The longer we will remain closed the harder it will be and more challenging it will be to recover."
Tony Davies, Owner of Gourmet Food Kitchen in Coventry
Tony said: "Well hopefully Boris Johnson will open hospitality as soon as possible, not like the last time leaving it till last. We can all go into a supermarket full of 150 people but you can't come and sit in a restaurant that's safe.
"You sit down at a table,, you've got a waiter that comes to you. It's COVID safe so hopefully Boris will look at this again and open hospitality pretty quickly.
"This has affected my mental health. I was fully booked and it's horrible losing your bookings. You have no idea whether people will come back and 'are we going to survive this? Can I pay the rent? Can I pay the mortgage?' We've all go the same amount of bills coming in but we haven't got the same income coming in."
Stefano Scaringi, Owner of Fiume Restaurant in Wolverhampton
Stefano said: "I think we should be able to open at the same time as the other shops because at the end of the day, restaurant are not less safe than any other shop.
"Missing out on December was like missing a big chunk of the year for us. Obviously we went into national lockdown in November, then into Tier 3 straight after so obviously something has not worked. It makes no sense for restaurants to be closed and then be able to go to any shopping centre or any shop that is literally full of people right next to each other. If you can go to the gym you should be able to go for a meal too because it's no more dangerous than anywhere else
"We just hope by the summer we will be able to fully reopen, but the most important thing will be reopening and knowing we can carry on. If you reopen knowing that maybe in two months time, three months time it can happen again it gets quite frustrating because it's really hard to plan and keep up with staff so we can't wait to get back to some normality when we can just open for good.
"I know customers are looking forward to eat inside too. Luckily we have good amount of customers who have been supportive throughout the lockdowns."
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