“Test and Trace is a key part of maintaining customer confidence and cementing pubs as being responsible traders as mitigation of the pandemic continues,” writes the BBPA in an open letter to its members.
With various temporary initiatives taking place in the UK, including August’s Help Out to Eat Out discount and lower VAT rate on food in hospitality, aiming to bring customers back to pubs and restaurants, the sector’s representatives are keen to stress the importance of keeping consumer confidence in safety high. That includes collecting customer data to ensure that localised outbreaks of COVID19 can quickly be isolated.
” A robust procedure, not only enables the NHS to identify and quickly limit the spread of any COVID-19 outbreaks, but is also essential in underpinning continued consumer confidence in hospitality as a sector”, the BBPA says.
The country is being urged to Enjoy Summer Safely, but without the continued good work of BBPA members, consumers may start to think twice about returning to their favourite pub – particularly if COVID19 cases start to rise once again.
Emma McClarkin, Chief Executive of the BBPA said:
“The Government has provided our sector with valuable financial support. It is our responsibility to prove that we can be relied upon to keep our customers safe with the measures that we have put in place. In the few cases identified by Test & Trace, our sector has reacted swiftly and efficiently to ensure the safety of everyone involved and proved that hospitality businesses have always been adept at dealing with health and safety within their venues. Ensuring details are collected across the board will be key to keeping our venues open and trading once we head into Autumn.”