What it’s like to operate in lockdown part four: Creams

Hello Elton, what made you decide not to follow other operators and shut down completely post-lockdown?

When the advice came through we realised we were kind of in a unique position, in that we typically operate with a very long counter divided into very secure and distinct sections, hot, cold, waffles, crepes, etc. So, when the original news came through we spoke to every store and every franchisee, and we had 23 that remained open for delivery.

We made sure they were doing all the social distancing, which was easier for us to do than maybe a standard QSR business. They’ve got quite compact spaces and they maximise the guest service area, rather than maximising the kitchen space, whereas ours is largely open plan.

Also lots of our franchisees are family operators, for example Lemington Spa is a family run franchise, so they were already living together, then working together, so the element of risk for them was minimal. The opportunity for risk to our teams has always been at the forefront of our minds, but the way we operate means it’s relatively easy and safe for us.

You’ve got 87 cafes in total, how are you moving towards operating at full capacity again?

We’re phasing those that want to reopen so we can give them the best advice and support.

We don’t want to overload the system by having too many, we need to make sure everyone is doing everything properly, that everyone is safe and well, and they can cover the costs that they need to cover. That’s the prime driver, that’s why we support Jonathan Downey’s National Time Out campaign.

We’ve still got rents to pay. Even though furlough cost is covered there is still money going out and we are still coming out of our quietest period. Now we are going into our busiest period, but we’re on lockdown, so we’re not benefiting as much as we normally would. At this time of year our cash reserves are very low at some of our franchisees.

The majority of those 87 cafes are franchisees, did that present any complications around a coordinated reopening?

We’ve got ten company-owned sites, the remainder are franchisees. A couple of them decided not to open because they may have someone who needs to self-isolate at home, and we would fully support that. Our primary concern has got to be everybody’s safety because in the end it’s bricks and mortar, and you can replace that, but you can’t replace the people in it.

We’re not taking any of our royalty fees, we’re not taking any money from our franchisees. We’re just here to support them through this process. If someone does want to reopen, we are adopting a phased approach so we can coach them and talk them through it, or make sure they fully understand what is required of them.

For example we have one store in Bexleyheath which has a relatively small counter, so social distancing would be hard. But we managed to relocate the equipment throughout the restaurant so we can have separate stations that allowed us to maintain social distancing rules to keep our teams safe.

Many sites are offering delivery and collection, what’s the split between the two?

Broadly speaking its about 90% delivery and 10% collection. Some stores are just doing delivery, and we’re seeing some fantastic numbers working with our delivery partners. This whole process has made us really focus on delivery, which is maybe something we had been taking for granted.

We were planning a menu change in May, which is delayed now, but we’ve already got the product in. For example we’ve got a unique tie-in with the Cheesecake Factory in the US to be their exclusive partner in the UK, and we are talking to Deliveroo about how we can still maximise things like that, rather than losing that wave.

Just before the end of last year you started trialling a savoury menu, broadening the range on offer seems like a prescient move now?

It was going well, there was a real desire from our guests to have a savoury option, so we’ve added a delivery bundle with savoury and sweet options which is one of the best sellers we’ve got. And it’s raising awareness of the savoury offer.

Whatever market you’re in, if you stand still you’re not only in danger of others overtaking you but also squashing you in the stampede as they go past. We’re looking at what can we add to delivery, what we could do that’s going to be different in the market moving forward, because the world’s changing, and it’s changing on a daily basis. Not just the pattern of trade, but the items that people are demanding are changing quite dramatically as well.

To return to your teams, social distancing sounds like it’s in hand, did teams need persuading to return to work?

We’ve never forced anyone to come back to work, we probably only need four or five team members to work alongside the manager, normally it’s more like 15.

We have enough people that have said that we want to come back to work, in Walsall we have more volunteers than we need. So now we are working out how we can manage shifts to ensure that people are as financially sound as they can be.

How about PPE?

We’ve sourced sanitizers, aprons and gloves from our standard suppliers and we have backup suppliers, so there’s always an alternative.

Are teams using full face masks?

A couple of stores are, but not many, a lot are just using mouth masks. It’s not dictated by the government as something we have to do, so we haven’t imposed that additional cost on them.

We have to remember that for franchisees, every penny counts at the moment. Maybe they don’t want or need to because they all live together, or they’re going to struggle to afford it as they are still paying the rent.

We wouldn’t force them to do so until it becomes a government diktat, in which case, working alongside our environmental health partners, we would absolutely insist that’s what they did.

It’s an interesting situation, we were having a conversation regarding uniforms recently, and to suddenly be talking about uniform plus PPE, and it may be that we have to have face masks moving forward.

There are a lot of things we’ve got to overcome to make sure we get it right, but the atmosphere in the hospitality industry doesn’t lend itself to a clear plastic visor, gloves and an all in one.

So you’re considering Creams branded PPE?

If it’s got to be there, we need to make sure it doesn’t look incongruous to our guests. And people will get used to it. The first time you went to Tesco and you saw someone with a face mask on, you probably went home and told everyone about it. Now, when you go, everyone’s wearing one with their marigolds on.

Have you had to reduce your range?

We haven’t, we have a very large menu anyway, but there are some items that don’t travel as well as others that we might look to remove. But other than that we are listening to feedback daily, and trends have changed massively.

We were heavily reliant on Friday, Saturday, Sunday. Now it’s kicking in on Wednesday around three o’clock, and whether that’s because parents are home schooling and saying ‘Look, if you just finish this I’ll buy you a treat’ I don’t know. We’re also finding our average order value is increasing.

How about customers, are they observing social distancing?

We’ve had one or two instances in the past five weeks where franchisees have had an issue, and they have asked what we can do, so we’ve had boxes marked on the floor to help keep customers separate.

It’s not too much of a problem, I think people are getting rapidly used to queuing around the car park in Tesco, so the idea of spaced out queuing isn’t too alien to them. Humans are resilient when it comes to change, it just takes a little while to get used to it.

Still, these are scary times, and I don’t know what next week will bring for us, but we’ll keep pedalling as fast as we can to make sure we’re at the front of the pack when next week arrives.

We’ve also been working hard with our delivery partners to make sure their riders are adhering to it, and we are very quick to get feedback to them if riders are congregating outside or not observing the rules. Our franchisees are very vocal about it, they want their teams to stay safe and everyone who comes to the store to be safe.

Do you have any tips for other operators who would like to reopen?

The key one is to listen to your people, that’s what we’ve done from the start. Our communication has massively increased throughout the business.

The franchisees now have the new systems down pat and we’re making money, now they are only phoning up to talk about little things.

Sharing that best practice across teams, making sure that you follow up and check everyone understands the reasons why you’re doing things, why they are marking out the boxes, why it’s important that we sanitise. It’s talking about all the pitfalls and the concerns they have, because once you deal with a concern you can move on to running your business.

On that note, many operators are hoping to be up and running before the JRS is scheduled to end on 1 July. Is that the plan for Creams?

We’ve got everything in place, we’ve got a brand new menu to launch, and as soon as we get a date when we can relaunch, we will relaunch with a new product range and new everything else.

We are very keen to open, if it is safe and the government allows it, because this is our Christmas coming up. Pubs and bars make their money in November, December, January, but our time is coming up so the longer we are sat here, the harder it will be when we hit next December.

It’s why the National Timeout Movement is so important because although we are making money we’re not making the money we were making last year, and it will be December when we’re suddenly sat there going ‘Crikey, we’re really struggling’.

When you do reopen, are you hoping that you’ll be able to reopen with the booths and tables that you have already?

That will come down to the guidelines. We’ve got a number of smaller stores which are quite narrow, but we also have a lot of stores which are big open spaces, so we are looking at how we can rearrange the seating so we’re not taping it all off so it looks like some bizarre CSI episode with yellow and black tape to stop people sitting there.

Keeping that social distancing without it feeling odd is feeling is a challenge, but we’re dealing with it now. If it doesn’t happen then great, but if it does happen then our franchisees will know before they open what they need to do to allow it.

Some of them may stick with delivery and takeaway rather than go down to 12 covers. But a lot of them are big units and we have a lot of families that come and celebrate, so actually a table of eight that takes up a lot of space, including social distancing, will make that part of the restaurant look relatively busy.