C
a
Column G&G HoR
e
The roaring twenties
Is the hospitality industry going to see a return to the heady days of the roaring twenties from a century ago? Valda Goodfellows says there is plenty of optimism as the world starts to recover from covid.
W
ell, the UK hasn’t quite banished covid but there is definitely an air of optimism in the world of Hospitality; which just goes to show how quickly the mood can turn from despair to an almost palpable sense of victory. All thanks to our incredibly successful vaccination programme. Yes, there are still massive challenges ahead; some of which are quickly becoming urgent, such as the migration of staff away from Hospitality and into other less arduous and anti-social forms of work. But, businesses will overcome such challenges, as they have done
many times. What is clear from the heady expectations of diners, is that they are desperate to feel the joy of just sitting in a buzzy atmosphere; the sound of clinking glasses, clattering cutlery and chattering people eating, drinking and creating better memories. This spring feels like a re-birth of hospitality. Open the doors, bring the people in and let them taste freedom. That’s how it feels and the expectation is that this is the start of the new Roaring Twenties. The average spend of diners, even in the early days of outdoor dining in May, has sky-rocketed. All that pent-up
inability to spend on entertainment, finally spilled over onto our freezing cold terraces, beer gardens and outdoor dining pods. Shivering drinkers and diners muffled in heavy coats, woollen hats and fake-furlined boots, gladly parted with their cash as the icy rain pelted off the canvas awnings and patio-heaters spluttered against the howling wind. Just think what it’ll be like when the sun shines!! Just about every hotel, B & B and camp site in popular tourist resort from Lands End to John O’Groats has been inundated with bookings for the summer. Cruise liners are
About G & G
Founded by Paul and Valda Goodfellow, G & G Goodfellows is a highly creative design & Distribution Company with an amazing showroom in Little Portland Street. Offering a truly hands-on service, Goodfellows passion is to bring new and exciting, bespoke food presentation concepts to the UK’s culinary scene. As well as offering a wide variety of the world’s best branded tableware, kitchen equipment, clothing and machines, Goodfellows also collaborates closely with UK craft producers for totally unique products. It works with all sizes of restaurant and catering projects, happy to supply anything from an individual plate to a full restaurant concept.
set to sail around the UK just to help create a holiday experience, swapping the Med for the Medway, New Zealand for Newcastle-uponTyne and Dubrovnik for Dublin; it doesn’t matter a jot to those who crave the excitement of finding their sea-legs, putting on their glad-rags and dancing the evening away after a sumptuous dinner. Hospitality is going to be bigger business this summer in UK than probably ever before. That’s if the travel restrictions continue to limit foreign travel and foreign countries continue to prevent us Brits from visiting (apologies to those who continue to bear the horrors of covid). You can’t
36 TABLEWARE INTERNATIONAL: HoReCa
Valda DPS Horeca.indd 1
17/06/2021 13:42