8. AND THEN COVID

David Yip. Courtesy of the Yip Family

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by David Yip

After working away from my home town, Barrow-in-Furness, since I was 17 years old, I return to work as a General Manager in a busy bar/restaurant. (Little do we know what is coming around the corner). The place is on the high street and has a large following for the food and cocktails it serves. It’s especially popular at the weekend and employs door staff to manage the rowdy crowd.

My new boss had already explained the issues and I set about addressing them. Going through the food menu, I find that, once again, it hasn’t been costed correctly to hit the G.P. (Gross Profit). The cocktail menu is even worse. I tell my boss: ‘It would be more profitable if you gave guests five pounds each when they walk in the door without serving them.’ I sit down with the head chef and re-cost the food menu and I go through all cocktails, breaking each ingredient down by cost before deciding on the price. Then pass the revision on to my boss, who agrees that new menus with corrected prices need to be sourced and printed.

Then I address the front of house service, writing out clear instructions on how guests are to be greeted, and what information guests are to be given: the daily specials, the soup option, unavailable items. They must ask if any guests have dietary requirements, before they ask if the guests would like drinks.

When taking the order, this is to be repeated to the guests so mistakes are not made. Then the menus are removed, so other staff know the order has been placed. The person who takes the order checks on the state of readiness of the main courses, this stops too many staff interruptions.

Then, again, we ask guests if they require more drinks. We offer them desserts and coffee and, if the guests decline, they should then be presented with the bill. This is to ensure we can have a quick turnaround and can reuse the table as soon as possible. I send all this information to print and give it to the staff so everyone knows how they are to work.

There is a large wooden floored dining area. I notice it’s filthy and close the area off, and using a deck scrub, remove the built up dirt. I settle into the role and, when Christmas approaches, I buy new decorations which I plan to put up myself.

At home my niece Taryn is staying with me. She had come to stay. I said I could give her a job. My father, who lives with me, enjoys a cycle ride in the mornings before visiting the pubs in town for a few afternoon drinks.

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One afternoon my barman arrives at work and tells me my dad had fallen over and is lying on the pavement near my house. Some people are looking after him. I leave work and it takes me three minutes to get to him. My dad is trying to get up. People tell me he has banged his head, so I keep him lying on the floor until the ambulance arrives. At hospital they tell us he may be concussed. I stayed with him to monitor him overnight, but in the morning he was okay to leave.

At work I find a local DJ to play each Saturday night. This is well received. We are packed all evening with even more customers. Unfortunately, this also causes some issues with fights breaking out.

What annoys me is that the door staff all line up outside with no one inside watching the crowd. I tell them: ‘In future two of you must be at the front door and the other two stay inside, watching for trouble. We need to deal with it immediately. If I have to break up fights myself, then why do I need you?’.

My boss tells me the owner is visiting from overseas and wants to meet me. He has bought up three businesses in the local taking advantage of the trade from the huge shipyard in Barrow where they build nuclear-powered submarines. The meeting goes well, and my boss explains the changes I have made and the owner says he’ll give me a bonus if I meet the target profit.

Christmas arrives and the decorations look great. We are sold out for all our party nights. Guests can dine from a festive set menu before enjoying the DJ. The business is making a profit and we hit both G.P.s each month.

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In 2020 I go to see Cher in concert. I have loved her for years. The concert is in Leeds, where my sister lives, and we cannot wait to go. We have front row seats. Cher opens by saying to the crowd, “Are you all here to have a great time? I’m aged 74 and want to know what your grandma is doing tonight. I’m here to make sure you all do have a good time.” We all start cheering and clapping. She looks and sounds amazing. It is still one of my favourite concerts.

My dad has another fall, this time inside the house. Falling from the first floor landing, he tumbles down the stairs and bangs his head off the solid wood balustrade at the bottom, cracking the back of it. We rush him to hospital and they insert stitches and give him pain relief. When he is released, I tell him: ‘Dad you have to to cut down on your drinking!’. He is too old to be having these falls.

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COVID HITS

Hundreds of people are dying in China from a new disease. Areas are being closed off, not allowing anyone in or out. It’s to keep it contained. It is not long before cases are announced all over the world, including in the UK. Covid has arrived and the UK government announces that bars, restaurants, hotels and gyms are to close to prevent the spread of disease.

I am called into a meeting with the rest of the staff and the boss tells us we are to be furloughed, as the business will close for the foreseeable future. People would be paid a percentage of their wage by the government, at no cost to businesses, to help them pay their mortgages and bills. At home we are limited in where we can go and who we can see and have no choice but to wait things out.

Two weeks later we are due to be paid at midnight, after having had no income for eight weeks. I get a notification on my phone at 11.45 p.m. saying I have an email. The email is from my work and states we are all being dismissed with immediate effect. Calls to my boss go unanswered and I am fuming that they have done this. Despite the government paying a portion of our wages, at no cost to the business, they have instead decided to sack us all. This means we will not be eligible for the scheme. I go on to social media and put up a public post stating what they have done. It is shared hundreds of times, with people commenting that it is a disgrace and they will no longer support the business when it reopens. A couple of days later someone sets up a boycott page on social media and again it is shared hundreds of times. It is picked up by the local MP, who says he will be contacting the owner and asking why they have done this. A few days later I get an email stating I have been reinstated and will receive three quarters of my wage, paid by the government.

My furlough payments continue until August, when again I get an email from my work. This email states that, due to my social media post which I put up in April, I was in breach of contract by showing the company in a bad light. Because of this, they felt that they could not offer me my position back, and if I wanted to remain on furlough I would need to sign a letter agreeing to this. I respond with the fact that, as I had already been dismissed before my post was published, my contract had already ended. Furthermore, because of their actions, I had no intention of working for such an unscrupulous company and would not be returning or signing their letter. Once again I turn to social media and detail their letter, saying that despite their promise to reinstate me they have once again gone back on their word, asking me to sign something that was not true. I go on to say that I was not brought up with an “I’m alright Jack” attitude and would always support my team, as without them I am no one. Once again the post is shared many hundreds of times. I finish the post by saying I am looking forward to my new role working for better people.

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I have nothing else to do, so start to decorate my house from top to bottom and work out from home four times a week to keep myself in shape. With all the restaurants closed, I prepare lots of home cooked food which my dad and Taryn love.