insiderblmAs part of our CEO Secrets series, which invites business leaders to share their advice, we are focusing on start-ups that have launched during lockdown, looking at different types of entrepreneur. This week, we hear from people whose jobs are under threat in hospitality, a sector hit particularly hard during the pandemic.
The hospitality industry has been left reeling after two national lockdowns and, although England is just emerging from the second one, things aren’t necessarily looking better. The introduction of new tiered restrictions has been described in some quarters as a “mortal blow” for an industry “bearing the brunt of the pain”.
Bruce Tate, 39, was in a bad place after the first lockdown.
His business in Newcastle, called Need Music, which handled live bookings for pubs and weddings, was forced to close, and he wasn’t entitled to financial support from the government because he drew his income as company dividends.
But while contemplating his future, sitting at a picnic table outside his office, he had a “light bulb” moment.
A cyclist whizzed past. This was normal. The office garden overlooks Route 72, also known as Hadrian’s Cycle Way, one of the UK’s most popular cycle routes.
He suddenly thought: what if he turned this area, which his business was renting anyway, into a cafe, capitalising on the passing trade on wheels?
A few physical adjustments were necessary to make the idea possible.
Bruce created some covered wooden seating areas, added a serving hatch to his office kitchen, and Route 72 Cafe opened in July.
As predicted, cyclists have provided regular custom, stopping off for simple refreshments like cheese toasties, beans on toast and pannini.
In time Bruce added to the menu homemade pies and pulled pork sandwiches, made by his wife.
One particularly profitable day saw a group of 100 riders drop by, en route from Newcastle to Wylam.
The new business was gaining momentum and his investments were beginning to pay off when the new tiered restrictions arrived in the autumn, followed by a second national lockdown in November.
With lockdown now over, Newcastle is in tier three which means the cafe can open for takeaways only and Bruce has chosen to open only at the weekends for now.
He remains an optimist despite the huge upheavals to his life and business.
“I will come out of this pandemic stronger than I went in,” he says. “Hopefully I will have two successful businesses, instead of one.”
His advice to other people in the hospitality industry is to try different things with your existing resources and skills, but to build your new business around the restrictions – however frustrating that can be.
