Staycation. What to expect.

Ivory55 said:
A bit rich for me
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For us too, Mermaid carvery in Ipswich two of us £20 odd including a bottle of wine. While away its Wetherspoons but daughter didn't want to go to them, got some nice ones in Manchester. This was the second time we have been to a restaurant since last March 2020.
 
Spriddler said:
On BBC South News last week the owner of several hotels and pubs said that due to the difficulty in getting staff he pays £100 to an existing staff member if they introduce a new member and another £100 after they've worked for 6 weeks.
It'll no doubt improve when furlough has finished.
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It’s like a lot of buisness they have been used to an abundance of cheap labour and now cannot believe anyone would not be grateful to work for them.
 
We have been in Devon since the 1st of May, establishments short of staff is a familiar tale. As we walk around towns it’s really noticeable how many premises have staff wanted notices in their windows. Many restaurants will decline walk in customers, if we go out for a meal we have to reserve a table in advance, even then sometimes we have had to wait a long time for the food to arrive. The Ferry inn in Salcombe was closing at 5.30 pm due to lack of staff last week, we chatted to the manager who was explaining just how difficult it is to recruit staff. Seemingly they usually have a few university students in the summer but many are still at uni catching up on time lost to the pandemic.
Some places have notices asking customers to be patient as the staff are trying as hard as they can which of course we are happy to do.

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Is this it ?
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chaser said:
Pizza must be getting on for one of the dearest foods nowadays.
Why not just have some cheese on toast at home, one of the cheapest.
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Yesterday we paid £25 for 2 excellent takeaway pizzas, mine with extra topping. The takeaway menu is the same as it was in 2018, same prices.

Wetherspoons are still a bargain for a simple meal, drink inclusive. I'm not going to eat-in where pub food prices have rocketed. I can only think of one where the cooking is so good we make a special annual trip in the MH, so I'm hoping it will be open and the chef is the same. For their food I will happily pay more as a treat, but it is exceptionally good.
 
Ivory55 said:
It’s like a lot of buisness they have been used to an abundance of cheap labour and now cannot believe anyone would not be grateful to work for them.
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Exactly.
It doesn't matter whether it's jobs, motorhomes or tomatoes, everything will be in demand if the quality and the price is attractive.
The end result is of course that if employers have to pay more attractive wages the end user has to pay more for the product. 'T'aint rocket science.
The E Europeans accepted the 'low' wages because the money had far greater purchasing power when transferred 'home' and they were prepared to live 8 to a leaky caravan in a field.
 
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There does seem to be a large amount of pubs serving the dreaded combination of ridiculously overpriced food and awful customer service .
£18 for a burger with a “ brioche “ bun and a stick shoved through the middle of it ! Daylight robbery !
 
Swifter said:
There does seem to be a large amount of pubs serving the dreaded combination of ridiculously overpriced food and awful customer service .
£18 for a burger with a “ brioche “ bun and a stick shoved through the middle of it ! Daylight robbery !
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Did you pay that ?
 
Went to the new forest over half term stayed at camping in the forest site Holland’s wood Brockenhurst.
Busy site but still didn’t seem to be a lot of people in the area.
Most places were open.
Never downloaded the app.
Managed to go this long without catching anything, either been lucky or the whole face covering hand washing sanitizer thing actually works.
Keep this up till spring and we might be in a better place.
 
Off da Grid said:
the whole face covering hand washing sanitizer thing actually works.
Keep this up till spring and we might be in a better place.
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this is the key
and as it happens will also be the thing that lessens the pressure on hospitals for other viruses when this pandemic is over as more people now realise the space/not hugging kissing strangers/washing hands actually works
 
Swifter said:
There does seem to be a large amount of pubs serving the dreaded combination of ridiculously overpriced food and awful customer service .
£18 for a burger with a “ brioche “ bun and a stick shoved through the middle of it ! Daylight robbery !
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Absolutely - I am not hard up and I like a lot of us oldies we cannot take it with us but I do not like having the mickey taken out of me when it comes to rip off prices for poor service and rubbish food in pubs and restaurants. £18 for a normally overcooked burger and often badly cooked chips just tells me they are paying their staff peanuts. A Hawaiian Pizza for £12:95 with a totally monetary value of about a pound is another winner. I've had nicer ones from Tesco for £1:40. Wife and I have decided we have totally given up on restaurants and pubs. I hope for their sake we are in a minority. The best food we had in North Wales was a takeaway fish & chips from the Castle Fish & Chip shop in Cricceith. All the restaurants were at best very average.

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We were in Keswick the other week and nearly every pub had jobs for bar staff in the windows £10 per hour plus free meals. Speaking to a local business owner he stated a lot of labour in the area was Eastern European and they had returned home due to Brexit and Covid. He also said people had sought other employment due to being furloughed and now didn't want to return to that industry.
I was speaking to the landlord of my village pub on Thursday (the first time I've visited it since lockdown eased) and he mentioned last year a decent 2nd Chef was on about £23k this year its £30k plus and you have to hunt them down and go after them as everyone is trying to keep decent staff.
Since he reopened in the same time period in normal times he would have gone through 20-30 barrels of a particular lager, he's only just put his third on.
Whilst sat speaking to him over a period of about an hour 3 different people in their mid 20s not from our village came in without a mask and were stopped as soon as they came through the door, when challenged they claimed to have an exemption certificate when asked to produce it said they forgot it??? and were sent on their way. He said its like that every day and its his business and neck on the block......... but some younger people even after everything we have been through don't seem to care.
 
We are getting a lot of emails/updates saying a lot of businesses in Wester Ross are having to reduce hours or days due to lack of staff.
Some B&Bs and holiday lets also struggling for changeover staff so only taking 7 night bookings.
A shame as they can’t take full advantage of the bumper season after the lockdowns.

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Grianan said:
We are getting a lot of emails/updates saying a lot of businesses in Wester Ross are having to reduce hours or days due to lack of staff.
Some B&Bs and holiday lets also struggling for changeover staff so only taking 7 night bookings.
A shame as they can’t take full advantage of the bumper season after the lockdowns.
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They could always offer more money
 
A farmer friend normally has around 100 workers mostly from Europe each year, this year very few if any are coming back.
Also transport industry has bled drivers from Europe, and local drivers have sought other employment, as wages are around £8.90 per hour.
This is the tip of the iceberg, no one has noticed much difference as yet!
 
Someone said they could always pay more money, well of course they could. Unfortunately the public have become used to a certain price level. That will undoubtedly change. Or like many small businesses scale will prove there downfall.
 
Clipgate said:
A farmer friend normally has around 100 workers mostly from Europe each year, this year very few if any are coming back.
Also transport industry has bled drivers from Europe, and local drivers have sought other employment, as wages are around £8.90 per hour.
This is the tip of the iceberg, no one has noticed much difference as yet!
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Well they have had a good run of cheap labour, now they will have to pay a bit more and maybe not get a new Range Rover this year

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Clipgate said:
A farmer friend normally has around 100 workers mostly from Europe each year, this year very few if any are coming back.
Also transport industry has bled drivers from Europe, and local drivers have sought other employment, as wages are around £8.90 per hour.
This is the tip of the iceberg, no one has noticed much difference as yet!
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Well if the income of the poorest goes up I'm all for it. The rest of us can afford to pay for it.

Cheers James
 
Might spell the end of all those other schemes like attendance bonuses or meal allowance all of which can be stopped as as easy as started, and are not actual wage so don’t get as holiday pay etc.
 
68c said:
A week away from our two week staycation in Lincoln and Whitby. What happens if we are pinged by an NHS app the day before we leave? I am retired but my wife is working and taking holiday for the two weeks, would she get Covid Statuary Sick Pay for those two weeks?
Beginning to understand why folk do not use the app and give fake data at venue sigh in. It's not nice but human nature is what it is.
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My big issue with it is that they apparently don't supply a reason - you were sat in x pub next to a person with a confirmed case - nada - you re just expected to cancel your holiday/ wedding/ funeral whatever and isolate for 7-10 days with no explanation. Not reasonable Imho.
 
Clipgate said:
A farmer friend normally has around 100 workers mostly from Europe each year, this year very few if any are coming back.
Also transport industry has bled drivers from Europe, and local drivers have sought other employment, as wages are around £8.90 per hour.
This is the tip of the iceberg, no one has noticed much difference as yet!
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Cleaners get more than that in Shrewsbury.
 
This is the rates still be advertised and say that there is a shortage
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