How we are supporting businesses during COVID-19: an interview with Rachael, owner of Isla Ray in Deptford
Isla Ray is a cafe/bar situated on Deptford High Street. Also a live music venue, it’s a popular destination for creatives, housing art exhibitions and offering remote working spaces. We caught up with Rachael to find out how her business has been affected during the current COVID-19 crisis, and how, with the help of the Retail, Leisure and Hospitality grant funds distributed by the Council, independent businesses like Isla Ray will manage to stay afloat.
The interview
In what way has the COVID-19 pandemic affected your business?
As all my staff were furloughed, I’ve been operating alone since the beginning of lockdown, selling coffees, pastries, food and essential groceries from the cafe’s front door. Obviously not being able to trade as normal, with a full working team, has meant that we have lost a huge amount of revenue, especially during the months which would have otherwise been our most profitable. Hospitality businesses have huge overheads so the financial aspect was incredibly worrying for us.
How easy was it to receive your grant from the Council?
We were lucky in the sense we received the grant very quickly. It was as simple as emailing over a few details about the business and then it appeared into the bank account a few days later.
What are your plans for the immediate future?
Our plan is to open to the public at the beginning of July following strict guidelines to protect customers and employees. I intend to un-furlough half of the staff at first and open on a reduced-hours basis.
How do you plan to adapt your business?
The main issue when opening will be the reduced capacity and therefore decreased opportunity for sales. However, there are ways in which we will try to counterbalance this.For example, we will continue serving as much takeaway food and drinks as possible. This also includes alcoholic beverages (off-sales) which require a licence variation.
Operations will also be altered as we will need to work on a booking system and introduce table service. We may also need to include a minimum spend per table as the cost per head will need to increase in order to make ends meet. Additionally, a strict cleaning rota and PPE will be essential.
The Council’s grant not only means that we can survive through this period, pay our suppliers, rent etc. but it will also help us over the coming months when we are operating in line with the necessary adaptations.
Grant funding
If you have a small business that is not eligible for either a Small Business grant fund, or a Retail, Leisure and Hospitality fund, you may be able to apply for a Small Business Support Fund. These are competitive, discretionary grant funds for small businesses.
Read more about the Small Business Support Fund. Applications close Monday 29 June.