Restaurants waited months to welcome back customers for the first time since March, but some diners booked tables and did not bother to turn up.
'No-shows' have long been a problem for the hospitality industry, but the financial impact of untaken bookings is even more serious this summer, as recently reopened or soon-to-relaunch businesses have gone four months without trade, due to the coronavirus lockdown. Often, they can only reopen with reduced capacity and higher staff levels.
Restaurants, bars and cafes have been reopening in Newcastle since July 4. The Patricia bistro, on Jesmond Road, welcomed back its first customers on Friday, July 10. But a couple which had booked a table for two were not among them and did not even bother contacting The Patricia to say they were not coming.
"It's a very deflating feeling in restaurants when it happens," Patricia chef-owner Nick Grieves told ChronicleLive.
"You're geared up and ready, and then it's 'where are they?' And they just don't turn up."
In a small restaurant like The Patricia, margins are tight, especially when they organise staff and order produce to prepare for a full dining room.
"Just that table for two, that can be our profit for the night," said Nick.
"Getting the staff prepared, food prepared for being full and buying produce, it's expensive."
Not only do no-shows hit a restaurant's income, but there are the added frustrations of wasting fresh produce and turning away walk-in customers who could have taken the table.
Thali Tray, in Ouseburn, introduced mandatory table reservations for the first time when it reopened following the lockdown closure.
Co-owner Josh Roberts said he has had "multiple" nightly no-shows since reopening.
Josh said: "On Saturday the bookings are staggered on purpose so we never fill the venue and overcrowd it, so we only sit three tables every 15 minutes.
"At the 5.30pm slot, all three tables didn’t show up. So on the night of the week where we need to be busy, we didn’t sit anyone down for 30 minutes, which is crazy as we were turning so many people away.
"If it continues we will have to start charging deposits. We don’t want to do that, but it's the only option left in our control."
Thali Tray's neighbour, Ernest Cafe Bar, has taken away half of its tables, to make social distancing easier. Instead of empty space, owner Kathryn Hodgkinson has brought in plants and flowers to decorate the areas where the tables used to be.
Kathryn said groups of customers have ditched their table reservations without contacting the Boyd Street bar, which serves food throughout the day.
Kathryn added: "Loads and loads of effort has gone into making it safe. There is lots of space, which makes it very financially vulnerable. When people book tables and don’t turn up we lose even more money."
Businesses understand diners may have second thoughts or anxieties about going out as the pandemic continues, while there are of course many reasons why someone may not be able to honour a booking.
Customers can do their bit by making a quick phone call to restaurants and cancelling bookings, with as much notice as possible. This gives restaurants and bars the chance to offer tables to others, instead of missing out on much-needed income after a fallow four months.
Newcastle Indian street food restaurant Dabbawal told ChronicleLive: "Yes, we've had cases of no shows, even with those that have confirmed, which is disappointing, but some guests were kind enough to cancel the bookings."
Ernest owner Kathryn added: "We understand people need to cancel and change plans and that’s completely fine. It’s not letting us know and not turning up that is financially damaging."
Patricia owner Nick advised: "It's about giving as much notice as is possible, 10 minutes before coming is not very good. Give us a day, or at least a number of hours.
"On Saturday we had two people cancel, but they contacted us on Friday. We put it up [online] and managed to resell the table."
