Seven Bro7hers are to re-open their Salford Taproom, Middlewood Locks, and Ancoats beer houses on Saturday, 4th July, but it will be table service only, with social distancing, and no standing at the bar.
The brothers have installed large screens to divide the longer tables, at the Middlewood Locks and Ancoats sites, to ensure space between groups, and customers will order through an app they can download to their mobile phones.
On a pre-Covid night both beer houses could host approximately 150 people at a time. Now, in the ‘new normal,’ the Middlewood Locks bar will be reduced to 70 seated customers, with the Ancoats site remaining split across two floors, seating around 50 people. However, drinkers will be able to enjoy a much-awaited pint in the sunshine at Middlewood Locks, with plans to offer outdoor seating in Ancoats.
Limited food menus will be available at the Middlewood Locks and will be available for take-away. In Ancoats, however, there will be no food for the initial re-opening with the view to re-introduce bar snacks.
The Salford Brewery taproom will open only on Saturdays for a maximum of 30 people, this will work on a one in, one out basis. It will be drinks only and take-out service will be available.
‘We are confident we will be able to maintain a good atmosphere’
Chief executive, Keith McAvoy, said the most important thing was the people feel safe to come and enjoy the beer houses. “We hope the measures we have put in place to open in July will give customers the confidence to come down for drink or a bite to eat, knowing we have done everything we can to ensure their safety.
“We may have reduced the head count and banned drinking at the bar, but we are confident we will be able to maintain a good atmosphere. Food and drink orders will be run largely through an app to ensure table service is quick and contact between staff and customers is minimal.”
All beer house staff will be wearing full PPE — visors or face masks and gloves — to ensure they are constantly protected and will be issued with hand sanitizer.
Keith added: “We currently have no plans to run a booking system for tables or drinking slots — however, this may be introduced depending on customer behaviours. It’s a long time since we have all been down the pub, so we are excited to open our doors and start pulling pints again.”
