For so many business owners, Mother’s Day marks that first point in the year where they can expect a bounce in trade after the lean winter months. But not this year.
Monday’s announcement by the UK Government of drastic measures to delay the spread of coronavirus has shaken many local firms to their core. And while Chancellor Rishi Sunak has promised a massive financial package to support small businesses, exactly how that will work, how soon it will arrive and how it will be applied in Scotland remain questions to be answered.
For some, the uncertainty couldn’t have come at a worse time.
“For as long as we’re allowed, we’re going to stay open”
Graham Bucknall is the owner of The Ship Inn in Elie, a pub and restaurant he bought with his wife, Rachel, in 2014. Twenty years previously they had gone there on a first date together. Graham was working in finance in London but he decided to join friends for a Hogmanay celebration in the Fife coastal town where he fell in love, twice. Not only was he smitten with the woman who is now his wife, but he also fell for The Ship Inn.
“This place is really close to our hearts,” he said. “We’ve sunk blood, sweat and tears into it.”
Now the couple and their staff are facing an uncertain future with people warned to stay away from pubs and restaurants and limit their social contact.
The Ship Inn has been there for 180 years and it’s going to be there for 180 years more I can tell you that.”
Graham explained: “We have another pub near Edinburgh and business had been declining over the last week, but The Ship Inn has been remarkably robust until Monday. We’ve been up 5% year-on-year, we had a busy weekend and we even sold out of champagne. If you’d asked me on Monday morning I’d have said we were looking ahead to a bumper month. It looked as though we’d go against the trend here with people seeing the seaside and fresh air as a safer option. But after the announcement, the phone started ringing with cancellations – although we did have two new room bookings from people who were changing their plans.
“Mother’s Day is usually one of our busiest. This couldn’t have come at a worst time because winter’s tough in Fife. We have great staff who work really hard. I’ve just written a message to them saying this is a catastrophe but it’s a health issue. Hopefully it will just be short-term but it’s been the worst week of our lives business-wise.”
In Fife alone there are 3000 restaurants and cafes, and 1500 pubs and bars, with the pub and restaurant sector accounting for over 3% of workers. In Dundee that figure is 7.2%, and 7.4% in Aberdeen. There is much at stake for business owners and staff, but Graham says they will fight to stay open.
“We’re going to come out of this and we want to hold on to our team. We have great staff and customers. For as long as we’re allowed, we’re going to stay open. We have an outside space so we can do barbecues, and we can also deliver food, so for those who don’t want to eat in a restaurant we can deliver a Mother’s Day roast to them. Let the pub come to you.
“The Ship Inn has been there for 180 years and it’s going to be there for 180 years more I can tell you that. Fife is a resilient place.”
“There’s a big unknown for us now”
For Mungo Finlayson and his brother Guy, 2020 was set to be a big year. Last November the pair opened The Strong Water Co independent drinks shop on Banchory High Street – a new venture which they run together in addition to an events business. The Inverurie Beer Festival was due to be held later this month, but the brothers have been forced to postpone the event due to the coronavirus outbreak.
In the shop, they were expecting Mother’s Day to bring a roaring trade in gins, wine and Proseccos. But though business was lively at the weekend, it appeared to be due to the uncertainty that preceded Monday’s announcement.
Mungo explained: “Last weekend was the busiest of the year so far on Friday and Saturday. People were buying whisky, gin and wine. People were coming in to buy a couple of bottles of wine and then saying, ‘Actually, make it 12,’ so there has been a surge in people buying. I had a few people buying bottles of gin yesterday because they don’t know what’s happening or what they’ll need.”
Are people going to be wanting to go to tasting events now? That’s another bit of the business gone.”
To face such uncertainty now is a blow to the brothers, who had been enjoying a strong start to their new business. Though they have no way of knowing yet just how big an impact the virus will have on trade in the shop, they have already been thwarted from launching their planned tasting events.
“We had a really good December and opening time, in January people watch what they spend but things were going well. We were getting ready to open our tasting room, but are people going to be wanting to go to tasting events now? That’s another bit of the business gone. We could have had one or two tastings a week, taking 15 to 20 people, so there’s a big unknown for us now. We’re going to have a huge drop in turnover due to the festivals revenue loss.”
But, as with other businesses around the region, Mungo and Guy are looking at how they can make the best of a bad situation – and are looking to online sales and home deliveries.
“We do home deliveries and we’re looking to do more of that and developing more of the online side of the business so we can still send our goods to people if they need them. Our footfall in the shop might be lower, but hopefully we can still drive revenue and offer a free online delivery service. We already have some products online but we’re going to look to put more on the website for click and collect or a delivery service. We have the ability to do it, now we need to implement it.”
“We just have to take every day as it comes”
Anne Webster runs the Ashbrook Nursery and Garden Centre in Arbroath alongside her husband and brother-in-law. They started out on the site 20 years ago growing cut flowers and bedding plants on a wholesale basis before setting up their own garden centre and cafe. April to June are crucial months in the business and the family were gearing up for their busiest time of the year.
With so many people now staying at home, it may be that they choose to spend time – and money – on their gardens. But while the last few days haven’t had a major impact on trade yet, and with signs of an uplift from people wanting to stock up, Anne is not taking anything for granted.
She said: “We’re still open for business. In the past few days we’ve been busier with people stocking up on supplies for the garden. Mother’s Day is usually a busy time for us and, so far, it’s been business as usual. People may be looking to get out into the garden to lift their spirits. We’ve heard that in Germany garden centres have been allowed to stay open – probably because they tend to be out of town and in the fresh air – and we’re hoping that will be the case here.
“A lot of our customers are older so it may affect them. If they don’t want to come in they can phone us and we can deliver. April, May and June are the months that we make money. We’re growers so we have young plants that we’re bringing in for sale so if we have to close, what do we do with them? We just have to take every day as it comes.”
