The latest easing of Covid-19 restrictions on Monday 17 May means bakeries, coffee shops and other hospitality venues in England and Wales are at last able to serve food and drink to customers indoors.
However, indoor groups are restricted to six, or two households, table service is mandatory and other pandemic regulations apply, such as social distancing and wearing masks when not seated, along with Track and Trace protocols.
So, which of the major chains are taking the opportunity to serve customers indoors? And what extra measures are they taking to ensure safety? Find out below:
Birds Bakery
Are stores open to indoor customers? Yes
How many stores are open to indoor customers? The Birds Bakery stores reopened for indoor seating are: Albert Street, Crown Walk, Ashbourne (all in Derby), Arnold, Beeston, West Bridgford, Wollaton, Victoria Centre, Melton Road (all in Nottingham) and Lichfield (in Tamworth).
What additional health and safety measures will be put into place? “We have been working hard behind the scenes to ensure the safety of our customers, and all stores that will be open with indoor seating will be socially distanced and equipped with hand sanitisers readily available,” said Lesley Bird, chief operating officer at Birds Bakery.
Cooplands
Are stores open to indoor customers? Yes
How many stores are open to indoor customers? Cooplands is opening all its shops and cafés with indoor seating.
“We have three traditional shops with indoor seating situated in Batley, Worksop and Grimsby, which we have been able to open for the first time as of 17 May,” said Jade Normington, brand manager for Cooplands.
“We also have a new concept shop called Cooplands Eats & Seats, located on Seamer Road in Scarborough. Furthermore, Cooplands has 12 cafés, The Secret Garden and Orchard. We won’t be operating a booking system,” she added.
What additional health and safety measures will be put into place? Some stores may have reduced seating to adhere to social distancing guidelines. All customers will be asked to follow one-way systems and wear a mask when not seated.
“Some examples of our 23 additional safety measures include fitting Perspex screens along contact areas with our members of staff, who will be also wearing PPE and observing social distancing measures,” Normington said.
“Customers using our seating areas are legally required to provide their contact details or scan on the app for Track and Trace purposes, and staff will be asking customers to do this before placing their order. All staff have been informed on their individual Covid-19 risk assessment and received appropriate training to ensure theirs and their customers safety.”
Costa
Are stores open to indoor customers? Yes
How many stores are open to indoor customers? All indoor seating areas in Costa stores in the UK have been reopened as of 17 May.
What additional health and safety measures will be put into place? A Costa statement by CEO Jill McDonald said stores may have limited seating available for social distancing purposes, and tables would be available on a first come, first served basis.
“We are also required to ask all customers looking to use our seating areas, including those ordering via Click & Collect on the Costa app, to provide their contact details in support of NHS contact tracing services,” McDonald added.
Gail’s
Are stores open to indoor customers? Yes
How many stores are open to indoor customers? Gail’s is reopening the indoor seating areas that feature in ‘most’ of its 66 stores.
“For us, 17 May marked the return of doing even more baking, which is what we love most,” a spokesperson said. “We’ve got a new made-to-order menu that we can’t wait to share with our customers.”
What additional health and safety measures will be put into place? “We are committed to doing everything we can to operate safely and, of course, we’re also doing NHS Test and Trace too,” the spokesperson added.
Pret A Manger
Are stores open to indoor customers? Yes
How many stores are open to indoor customers? Pret said it has brought back indoor seating ‘in all open shops’ as of 17 May. Pret has 389 shops in the UK and now has 366 shops open for dine-in, takeaway and delivery. Customers are able to use outdoor and indoor seating on a walk-in basis, with available menu items varying from shop to shop.
What additional health and safety measures will be put into place? Pret says it has conducted a full review of its safety processes and believes it has ‘strong protocols’ in place to ensure shops can operate safely.
Specific steps include protective Perspex screens fitted to the counter, restricted customer flow into shops, provision of hand sanitiser gel, safety ‘refreshers’ for team members and the sanitisation of tables and chairs after use.
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