Covid-19: Auckland back in level 2, but not everyone made it through the latest lockdown

Sunday, 7 March 2021

The Brewers Room shuts its doors for good in Ponsonby after suffering back-to-back lockdowns.

The fourth lockdown may have delivered the final blow to some businesses, an Auckland bar owner closing his bar for good says.

As businesses prepped to reopen under Alert Level 2, Rolly Doyle, owner of The Brewers Room in Ponsonby, was taking down the signs.

Auckland dropped to alert level 2 on Sunday morning, and the rest of the country to level 1.

But Doyle said while the latest lockdown had hit the business hard, his The Brewers Room had never recovered from the August lockdown.

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Restaurant Association chief Marisa Bidois says the constant “last minute” closures and restrictions on trading had resulted in untenable financial and emotional strain on owners.

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“There comes a point where you just have to kill it. People keep putting money into their businesses, and they’re never going to get that back,” Doyle said.

The association estimated about a $70m per week loss by hospitality businesses across the country.

Doyle said he opened the Ponsonby store after closing his 18-year-old business, The Bluestone Room, in Auckland’s CBD last year, because of the disruptions caused by Covid-19 coupled with the City Rail Link construction.

“I don’t think politicians really understand the impact they’ve had on hospitality businesses because of their decisions. Be it Covid-19 or in the case of many Auckland central businesses, the City Rail Link disruptions.”

Doyle said while he had applied for the wage subsidy, the support had helped workers, not business owners.

He said collectively he had lost more than $2 million in the closures of the two stores, but he was continuing to operate his second shop under the Brewers Group, The Brewers Cooperative on Victoria St and transfer his five workers from the Ponsonby store.

Michael Khuwattanasenee says growing up in two different countries taught him to value hard work and adaptability.

Doyle said he was still better off than other businesses owners as he decided not to extend his six-month lease on The Brewers Room and was able to shut up shop.

In September through to November last year, 16,234 businesses closed permanently, compared to 7154 in the same period in 2019. That is an increase of 127 per cent.

Restaurant Association chief executive Marisa Bidois said the latest lockdown had brought up “more tears and frustrations” in the industry.

“After a year of closed borders and changing alert levels people are exhausted and struggling financially in many cases,” Bidois said.

She said the constant “last minute” closures and restrictions on trading had resulted in untenable financial and emotional strain on owners.

“What is now imperative is that the government looks to offer fair and quick financial support to those industries most hard hit by the pandemic.”

“We must remember that any increase in alert levels aside from the obvious revenue losses, also means weeks cancellations and subdued trading when the alert levels go back down.”

Bidois said during the first level 3 lockdown 80 per cent of businesses offered delivery and contactless pickup orders.

But during this latest lockdown this had dropped to just 50 per cent, as the costs of operating under restrictions outweighed the revenue.

The association estimated about a $70m per week loss by hospitality businesses across the country.

At least four businesses in the Restaurant Association closed in February.

Another Auckland business owner, Michael Khuwattanasenee, said his Devonport takeaway shop had been busy during level 3, but his vegan restaurant Khu Khu in Ponsonby had taken a hit in revenue, despite offering deliveries.

“It’s hard to give our customers the same experience of dining in the restaurant through takeaways,” Khuwattanasenee said.

He said some loyal customers travelled from suburbs around the city for contactless pickup, but this was not enough to help trade.

Khuwattanasenee said the business was down 40 per cent of normal trading during the lockdown.

But Khuwattanasenee said as he expected more lockdowns to come, he was planning frozen meals and considering online cooking tutorials for the next lockdown.

“This lockdown totally caught me off guard. But during lockdown I posted on some vegan Facebook groups to get ideas about how Khu Khu could operate during the lockdown.

Khuwattanasenee said based on recommendations from his customer base he included new meals including mango rice and a greater gluten-free selection on his menu.

Doyle said it was likely things would get worse before they got better in the hospitality industry.

Doyle advised those looking to start a hospitality business to wait until tourism was back to normal.

“If you have to borrow money to start a business, don’t do it.”