It’s been a mad few weeks. Our daily lives have changed, we miss seeing the friendly faces behind our favourite independents. We are sure you do too, so we thought we’d check in.
Not only have they had to adapt their own lifestyle to the new normal, their business has had to change too.
We caught up with Martin, who runs BoozeHound alongside Robbie! They have a craft beer focused bar based down at Cutlery Works, alongside mobile bars at events and offering creative services through ‘BoozeHound Creative’ business.
What was your initial reaction to lockdown?
Initial reaction was one of uncertainty and then huge concern. Both for our business, our indie colleagues across the city, but most importantly the health and well-being of friends and family. It all happened so quickly so it was, and still is a scary time.
How has your business changed over the past few weeks?
As with most of our colleagues in hospitality, we are now closed completely which is pretty heart wrenching having worked tirelessly for four years to build everything up from scratch. We offered deliveries for a while to ensure the beer in our cellar found a good home, but now we are focused on getting organised to welcome everyone when we are able to trade again.
How do you see the long-tern impact on small businesses?
I have a huge amount of faith in small businesses, it has been amazing seeing people adapt and pivot their business to try and offer a different service and support the wider community. That said, there is no getting away from the huge financial challenges we all currently face. We are incredibly fortunate to work with very supportive suppliers, special shout out to the likes of Abbeydale Brewery, Thornbridge, BrewDog, Heist etc who have really stuck by us. Matt and Nina at The Milestone Group have also been a great help, both in terms of advice and assisting us all at Cutlery Works to ensure we can all come back bigger and better than ever!
What has been your daily coping strategy in these crazy times?
It’s as good a time as ever to reflect on what works and what perhaps could be improved. We are using this time to try and make sure we offer an even better experience and even tastier beers than when we had to close!
We have received some amazing messages over the past few weeks and received an incredible amount of support for which we are both eternally grateful for. Cheers Sheffield, we love ya!
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