Preparing Your Venue For Post-Lockdown

As lockdown is lifted and restrictions are eased, venues like pubs and bars are finally able to open and let customers back through their doors. With British beer sales falling to a 20-year low due to Covid-19 and lockdown, venues are desperate to start bringing patrons back and start making money again.

However, when preparing your venue for post-lockdown, you need to think about the safety of your staff and patrons. The media is reporting conflicting stories; some say consumers won’t go back to bars in fear of Covid-19, while others suggest drunk patrons will flock to bars and forget about social distancing. Either way, if you want people to come back to your venue with confidence over their safety, you need to take the time to prepare your venue.

Please keep reading for our top tips on what you can do to ensure the safety of your team and patrons, from giving out PPE to reorganising the layout of your venue.

Personal Protective Equipment

The most important thing you need to consider when preparing your venue for post-lockdown is the personal protective equipment (PPE) you need to protect your staff and guests. While bars and pubs are allowed to open, the Covid-19 pandemic isn’t over, and we need to make patrons feel safe if you want them to start coming back to your venue. PPE also shows your workers that you care about their health, and are putting their protection first.

Make sure you provide a choice of PPE such as masks and visors, as employees who wear glasses may have a hard time with masks fogging up their glasses. If you plan on using one-use masks, make sure you order enough for all your staff to have a new one daily. Or, look into reusable options you can give your staff to take home and clean after every shift.

Have Clear Rules 

Make sure you have clear rules for your patrons on how they should act and behave in your venue. There need to be clear signs informing them of social distancing so that they can remain a safe distance away from other people.

It would help if you also thought about how you are going to serve food and drink in your venue safely. Many pubs have decided to use apps to allow their patrons to order food and drink from the table. If this is something you can invest in, it is a great option. Otherwise, you can instruct patrons to remain at their table while servers come to them for their orders, keeping the bar closed. This prevents lots of people hovering in one space, increasing the risk of passing on Covid-19.

If people aren’t following your rules, you need to be prepared to kick them out of the venue to guarantee the safety and happiness of your other patrons and staff. It’s not a nice experience, but it will reassure and impress your other customers.

Work Out Your Capacity

With social distancing still in play, you must prepare the layout of your venue to match the capacity you can allow. It won’t be safe to allow the same number of people into your venue as you did pre-pandemic, as you need to ensure patrons can move around the venue with ease.

If your venue is dense with lots of chairs and tables, then it will be hard for your patrons to socially distance. By removing some tables or swapping them for benches which maximises space, you can increase your capacity and have more people spending more money in your venue at one time.

Play around with the furniture at your venue to see what various layouts you could have. If you are still not satisfied, then do some research online and purchase or rent alternative choices to suit your needs.

Safe Entertainment

Entertainment should still be a huge part of your reopening post-lockdown. You want your venues to feel as normal as possible and still fun when visiting your venue, otherwise, they may be put off from returning in the future. Play the latest music, have sports on the TV and have a contactless pool table for friends and family to interact with.

A contactless pool table ensures safe, easy payments from your patrons, reducing how much they are touching the table itself. All you need to do is ensure a staff member quickly wipes down the table and pool cues with disinfectant between each new group playing. This keeps both your guests and employees safe while maintaining a fun atmosphere in the bar or pub.

Check out our website to learn more about Amusement Leisure and the fantastic range of entertainment we can supply for your venue. You must consider the safety of your customers and employees if you want the transition back to work to be smooth.

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