60 seconds with… Nick Ayerst, Managing Director - LEON restaurants

How was the initial re-opening of your business and how was it carried out in line with safety procedures put in place to allow social distancing?

LEON was one of the few businesses that had a significant proportion of its restaurants open, albeit sales well down of course. These restaurants helped keep key workers going through the worst of the first lockdown, and like many there was a quick introduction of signage, perspec screens and hand sanitising stations to make sure everyone kept safe. We took the lessons from the restaurants we kept open into our re-openings to ensure that we were not only compliant but that all our guests felt positive about their experience. 

How is the general feeling and feedback from your team members now we have re-entered lock down?

We have kept far more of our restaurants open this time around. Sales had built steadily, and we felt that ‘lockdown 2’ would not prove to be quite so tough on sales. Lockdown 2 feels very different. Although we have furloughed a number of team members the fact that there is a target end date for people to come back to work is helping everyone come to terms with the situation. With most restaurants open its easier for teams to keep in touch with each other and we have rolled out the communication plans again for those not at work. 

What role has technology played in supporting your re-opening plan?

The adoption of technology was accelerated through lockdown. Like a lot of companies, we were trying to second guess tech that could help customers feel comfortable with the levels of contact required and time needed to order and collect. Order at table, Kiosks and Smart Order help reduce the face to face contact required, although provision needs to be made for sanitising screens between customers. We will be monitoring carefully how consumers use the new access points into the brand as customers return and sales grow again once the vaccine benefits kick in. This will help guide where 2021/22 investment should continue to be placed.

What market trends are you seeing since re-opening?

Typically, each new lockdown restriction is worse for the first week or so and then slowly things build back up. The introduction of tiers and now lockdown 2 has proven the same, fingers crossed the bounce back will be faster each time. Sales through the digital channels continue to grow and delivery absolute value and percent of sales is also growing as we work hard to find ways for guests to consume LEON even when they can’t get to one of our restaurants

What techniques have you used to build sales and re-engage customers?

With fewer people with eye contact on our restaurants a lot of the messaging has gone digital, making sure that for those still out and about they know what’s open to ensuring people realise they can order delivery or experience the brand through our Sainsburys range. We continue to look to offer great value, have ensured that interest levels are kept up through menu changes and have digital gift cards and coffee subscription models available.

What positive lessons do we need to learn from what the industry has been through?

The industry has pulled together well, especially in lockdown 1, to provide support for our local communities, I hope that some of this remains and that we can all retain close links to the people who supported us in the tough times. As a whole the industry has been well represented by UKH and continued strong leadership and some sort of political representation would be a welcome benefit to make sure the voice of an industry this large is heard.

After years of supply growth outstripping demand and rents outstripping everything, it’s got to be hoped that we will at least have a period where the property costs in the industry come back under control. To allow fair pricing for guests and the opportunity to build up cash reserves to better weather future issues, whether health related or economic recession, will stand the industry in good stead to allow us to follow up on future challenges like recruitment, retention and skills training.

Leon Restaurants: https://leon.co/