'You've got to be careful not to undo the positive work in both: Safety, and getting things opened up'

Former Burnt Truffle chef and current owner of The Pig & Whistle James Allcock said that within an hour of the Prime Minister's speech, bookings started calling in to cancel. 

"We had ten cancellations in less than an hour," he said, adding that "it was certainly the most cancellations we've seen in quick succession for the weekend." 

Happily, other than on Wednesday, the Beverley restaurant managed to recoup enough people to fill the reservations for the rest of the week. 

Due to the social distancing guidelines in place since they reopened in July, the new ban on gatherings of more than six people from two households indoors in England announced by Boris Johnson on Wednesday hasn't negatively affected the day-to-day operation of the restaurant - something which more than half of our Twitter audience would agree with: 

In his press briefing yesterday, @BorisJohnson refused to rule out a second national lockdown. Have your bookings been affected since his speech? Please share your story, either in the comments below or by DM.

— The Staff Canteen (@CanteenTweets) September 10, 2020

'Bumbling word soup'

However, the chef did remark that it could affect customer confidence at a time when footfall is already forcibly lower. 

"I think it just dents consumer confidence because I don't think he [Boris Johnson] can deliver something without sounding like a bumbling word soup." 

"Even if he thinks it's made it simpler, the way he says things confuses people and doesn't make them feel confident."

"You've got to be really careful to not undo all the positive work in both safety, and getting things opened up. The restaurant industry was on a knife edge anyway, it doesn't need anymore battering, it's hard enough as it is." 

Will annual events such as festivals and the local Christmas market cancelled, the business has had to adapt, but the chef said they have managed to strike a balance by opening on fewer days and keeping some staff on furlough. 

What happens next as the scheme unwinds is another matter, however, and James is uncertain as to how the industry might cope should the government stand firm on its position not to extend it. 

His main worry, he said, "would be if we had to close again without furlough, it would be a huge difficulty. I can't for the life of me fathom how they haven't extended that on an industry-specific basis." 

"It would just waste and undermine the money that they've invested in keeping people - and they keep saying they don't want to keep people suspended in a job that doesn't exist, but no-one's suggesting that. It just needs to come back a bit more nuanced and specific to industries." 

That is assuming that we can avoid another national lockdown - as yesterday Israel became the first country to impose a second one, and coronavirus case numbers rise throughout the West.

"I can't see there being another national lockdown if I'm honest," James said, but "the little localised lockdowns that are seemingly happening more frequently are really worrying for the industry and I feel for the people in those towns, operators and the public, because it must be really difficult." 

And even there, he said, "I can't see how or why they're not" planning to extend support for those areas. 

"I don't expect them to start doling out grants again at the level that they did at the start," but "maybe they're just waiting. They've done enough U-turns now." 

"They seem to be leaving pretty late if they're going to, and I just don't think it's fair." 

"They quite clearly would know how to do it in a more nuanced way - continue it for industries that are still closed or have been closed again, but who knows." 

Faced with such uncertainty, as is likely the case for most in the industry, the chef is bracing for a fallout.

"My team is pretty small, so I'm just trying to make as much hay as I can," he said.