As a continued effort to help get pubs ready ahead of the planned 12th April reopening, the operations team at Marston’s launched a nationwide project to help equip pubs with alternative outdoor spaces to safely welcome back guests.
Andy Kershaw, Head of Property at Marston’s, said: “Outdoor seating at our pubs has become more important than ever, especially as we come out of lockdown. We already have some of the best outdoor spaces in UK hospitality and as much as we wanted to expand, we also needed to.”
The Coronavirus pandemic has accelerated trends whereby outdoor areas are becoming a key focus. This is further evidenced following Boris Johnson’s announcement regarding the roadmap out of lockdown for England, where pubs will be able to serve guests exclusively outdoors from the 12th April. Alongside the new garden spaces, Marston’s pubs will be operating an online ordering system for both food and drinks and will be allowing access to toilets and baby changing facilities.
Pubs are having to adapt and adjust their operations drastically to adhere to guidelines and prepare for reopening. Each outdoor design was carefully considered utilising available space and how the area could be used to ensure operations and customer experiences were enhanced.
Andy added: “So far we have worked on almost 300 pubs. We have worked closely with our contractors and suppliers, as well as our property team to ensure that we are meeting not only government guidelines on outdoor social spaces, but also ensuring that we don’t compromise on pub operations and customer experience.
There is no one size fits all, we have to think about how the space will be used and most importantly what guests are looking for.
“Moving through 2021 and beyond, external spaces will become even more valuable and the industry needs to continue to provide a safe, comfortable environment for guests.”
