#081 CVIRUS SPECIAL - Rupert Holloway - Conker Spirit

05/13/20 • 45 min

This is the week where Rishi has given much of the industry a further life line by extending the furlough scheme through to October. Though we wait nervously for the details of the ‘joint’ funding he mentioned from August onwards and wether our sector may qualify for further support once the scheme is removed for much of the country.

Today’s guest is Rupert from Conker Spirit, a gin distiller in Bournemouth. I’ve seen a number of distilleries moving into the sanitiser market and I really wanted to find out more about how and why. I think it demonstrates again the creative versatility of people in hospitality and is a great example of another business pivot.

Rupert and I chat about some of the technicalities of shifting from booze to sanitiser, such as how to get the HMRC onboard so you don’t have to pay £25 in duty per litre of sanitiser produced, and actually the speed the HMRC moved on that I think reflects further positive efforts behind the scenes from the government to try and get the private sector to support the public sector as much as possible, through things like sanitiser as well as PPE and feeding our key workers.

We also touch on the very crowded space of craft distillers and who will and will not survive this crisis and what trade may look like on the other side, as well as a couple of other positive pivots Rupert has seen, such as sleep packs for nurses.

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#080 CVIRUS SPECIAL - Andrew Stephen - Sustainable Restaurant Association

Another week and something is clearly in the air with more and more restaurants or hospitality venues trying to re-open in some guise. Maybe it’s the frustration of sitting idle, maybe it’s the recognition that the industry is very broken and some sort of pivot for survival is going to be essential for those businesses that can do so. And many cannot.

I’ve seen a number of posts from the Sustainable Restaurant Association (SRA) offering practical support, not only for members, but for anyone visiting their website. Whilst much of this is really useful and detailed, I particularly enjoyed chewing the fat with Andrew on some of the sustainable opportunities that we would be foolish to waste as we look at what our industry could look like moving forwards. As we inevitably reduce our menus to simplify production, both to have fewer chefs in the kitchen for distancing purposes, but also to reduce costs and waste, is now the chance more than ever to look at buying local, purchasing from people rather than brands and caring more about the impact of what we purchase on the land and the environment.

I certainly hope so and Andrew is well placed to talk about what this could look like. Could government support even be tailored and focused to offer additional support to those doing the right thing and trading more ethically in the food and drink space. Complicated, but a great concept. Enjoy the conversation.

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#082 Simon Mitchell - CEO Kerb Food

This is the first post pandemic episode I’ve done representing what is such a vibrant, energised, important and all too neglected part of the incredible hospitality sector - the street food traders. And when I say neglected I mean that so many of them are small, independent operators with no premises and no staff, so generally don’t qualify for grants or furloughing cash. It’s heart breaking to imagine the hardship that some of these incredible hospitality humans are facing during this crisis.

As well as their members we touch on some of the Kerb challenges such as rents and the #nationaltimeout campaign and what that would mean for their Seven Dials site, as well as the rest of the industry. Simon and kerb were heavily in negotiations over rents and their CBILS application literally pre and post this recording.

Despite the chaos of our sector, there was plenty of positivity to chat about too, such as the opportunities for street food to be one of the first sectors to rebound with its natural al fresco credentials.

It was also great to hear about some of the initiatives simon and his team are working on to support their members along with your chance to check out some free resources via the spinout onto YouTube of some of their inkerbator information.