Local restaurant turns to take-away services

(Credit: Gospoda Luton)

Local restaurant turns to take-away option amid Covid lockdown

By BARTOSZ ROMANEK

Anew national lockdown has meant that restaurants have been forced to close their doors for the time being.

The Gospoda, a Polish restaurant in Luton, located two minutes away from the University of Bedfordshire, is successfully fighting lockdown thanks to an attractive take-away offering.

With the UK back in another lockdown, businesses continue to suffer and take-away has been left as the only service option for the hospitality industry.

Artur Piotrowski, the owner

(Credit: Jeremy Segrott)

of Gospoda, has lifted the restaurant’s profile with takeaway only, offering various food choices and competitive prices, alongside professional social media advertising which has attracted new customers.

The restaurant’s take-away offerings include traditional Polish food – sorrel, beetroot and chicken soups, Russian style dumplings, pork chops and fried cod covered in spinach sauce.

Artur had to make six people redundant and it’s only him and a chef who are trying to cover all the duties.

He said: “Take-away service is the only thing we

can still do as a restaurant in the UK at the moment.

“We advertise a lot on social media, because this way we can rely on our dedicated customers and attract new ones.

“We’ve got money to survive - we don’t give up.

“In terms of staff, we had to let six people go, the Government’s financial support helps us to pay our bills but in terms of making money we need to forget about it for now.”

Meanwhile, hundreds of restaurants and coffee shops across his native Poland have opened their doors to customers, despite the potential risk of large fines.

The #otwieraMY (#WeAreOpening) movement was first conceived in the mountainous part of southern Poland, which is normally very busy especially in the winter season.

The movement describes itself as being an answer to a “crisis provoked by politicians” that it says is much more dangerous than the pandemic.

It has seen thousands of business owners opening their restaurants, hotels and other similar businesses to avoid permanent closure due to the financial impacts as a result of the prolonged social distancing and lockdown measures in Poland.

A lot of coffee shops, clubs and restaurants have joined the movement since it was

first introduced by a group of business owners.

The owner of the Kafejeto coffee shop said: “We’re using a loophole.

“People are tired of staying indoors.

“All you need is to sign a membership form for the

‘Business Owners’ Strike’ political party and you are legally in the coffee shop.”

Business owners in Poland who fear the loss of their livelihoods under lockdown refuse to follow the

Government restrictions. They think that measures are illegal as long as the Government does not introduce a constitutional state of emergency. Business owners now feel cheated by the lockdown rules and have lost trust in the

Government’s false promises about financial support. Speaking about the situation in Poland,

Mariusz Bidzinski, a Law professor, said: “Restrictions on conducting business activity were introduced without any legal basis.

“History has seen a long list of rebellions, uprisings and other forms of social opposition to power.”

UK businesses are very well supported by the

Government’s financial shields, including the furlough scheme which pays employees placed on leave up to 80% of their salary, up to a maximum of £2,500 a month. Meanwhile, the situation in Poland is the complete opposite, and we shall see in the near future if that is going to change. In the meantime, you can find the Gospoda restaurant on JustEat, as well as on Facebook (Gospoda Luton) and Instagram (@gospodaluton).

(Credit: Kafejeto Białystok)

(Credit: Mikhail Nilov)