A pub which put out a plea after being blighted by a spate of customer no-shows, saw the community rally round to help keep its doors open.
New owners took over The Auldhouse Arms last year, just weeks before Covid hit, refurbishing the establishment to create The Allus restaurant.
But with the hospitality industry on its knees, the no-shows represent the latest challenge the owners have faced.
The issue was compounded when a lengthy power cut on Father’s Day saw the place forced to close its doors, with the loss of more than 200 bookings.
Following the recent no-shows – more than 40 in just one weekend – the decision was taken to ask for deposits.
And in a show of kindness, one customer offered to pay The Auldhouse Arms £100 up-front after the plea.
A post on Facebook reads: “The hospitality industry is on its knees, we are struggling with no staff and half capacity and today alone, within the space of four hours we had 18 no-shows.
“Being located as we are, we don’t get the walk-ins that the busier more central bars and restaurants have and so we are left with empty tables.
“We have tied ourselves in knots to staff up for a busy day and now we are having to send staff (some of whom have been furloughed for over a year) home as we now don’t have the customers.
“We appreciate plans change, things come up, all we ask it the courtesy of a phone call.
“Sadly, we now have no choice but to ask for deposits when making a booking. We just need a bit more certainty when buying stock, prepping food and guaranteeing shifts for our team.”
Encouragingly, The Auldhouse Arms was overwhelmed by the support it was shown after posting the message.
“We had over 30,000 hits on that message and were so appreciative of the support and kind messages. The fact one gentleman even offered to give us the £100 up front was really touching and generous,” said general manager, Marco Sarao.
Scottish Power has offered £160 compensation for the power cut, but Marco said it goes nowhere near to covering losses.
“Father’s Day is one of our busiest days of the year,” he went on.
“There was a full sitting and a full bar when the power cut hit and we had to call and cancel all our bookings for that day and close.
“The power cut was from 1pm to 8.30pm and all the food had to be binned and we had to close for extra days to allow the chefs to do all the prep again before we could re-open. It was a nightmare and the last thing we need as we have also been down staff who have had to self-isolate.”
But despite their battles, the pub and eatery is still doing its best to offer customers something a little bit different.
It is using high-end Puerto de Indias strawberry gin to make a sorbet and cocktails.
They are the only bar in the UK to use the Spanish tipple to do this and hope it will be a resounding success with customers.
“The team at Porrelli’s in Paisley made the sorbet for us and it’s amazing,” added Marco.
“We previously made a Brockmans gin sorbet and it attracted interest nationally, so hopefully this will do as well.”
Scottish Power were contacted for comment.
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