SWINDON businesses hit hardest by the town’s new Tier 4 restrictions have vowed to come back stronger when the Covid pandemic ends. 

On Boxing Day pubs, cafes and restaurants in the town had to close unless operating as a takeaway or delivery service. 

But less than a week later – on New Year’s Eve – Swindon was moved into the ‘stay at home’ Tier 4, meaning all non-essential retail shops also had to close as well.

Manni Madhani, owner of The Bank on Wood Street, is hopeful the customer base will return when his popular bar and restaurant can reopen. 

He said: “It’s very sad what’s going on in the world, with loved ones passing and this terrible virus that I’ve never seen before in my lifetime. 

“The government have made the right decision in closing everyone down, like it or not it’s the right decision. 

“They can now contain the virus and inoculate people – otherwise we’d be going in circles. 

“It’s very difficult to see some lovely businesses having to close but there is optimism for next year. 

“If we get rid of this problem, everything’s going to come back tenfold. Our businesses will thrive, people will now appreciate that there’s a lot of hard work being done. 

“The magic circle will return, as everyone comes back to work it’ll feed other businesses and we’ll come back. 

“There’s going to be some amazing turnarounds in fortunes when people come out on the other side of this. We’ll look back and think this is a crazy time but we’re going to come back.”

Manni added the work people are doing behind the scenes in Swindon – for charity and the community – is incredible and something he’s never seen before. 

At The Hop pub – just around the corner in Old Town – owner Jason Putt also shared his optimistic outlook. 

He added: “The short answer is it can’t be any worse than 2020. 

“What it’s given us is the opportunity to take a step back and see what we were doing well and what we weren’t doing very well and the opportunity to improve life in the future. 

“From a customer point of view, people have had nine months and it’ll be a year of heavily restricted social lives and I’ve got a feeling there will be some sort of natural reaction to that when we’ve got our freedoms again.”

After the November lockdown, Jason launched a GoFundMe campaign to help keep The Hop running.

The campaign raised more than £10,000 for his pub and he believes that just shows the level of loyalty people in the town have to the hospitality sector. 

He added: “The massive success of that appeal just shows how much people value their local pub. 

“There aren’t many pubs like mine that are privately owned and gives us the ability to tailor it to the needs of our customers. 

“So we’re quite optimistic for the summer and going forward.”
Under Tier 4 rules, all non-essential shops can operate a click and collect or delivery service. 

This is something Lee Mulholland, owner of the Something Different Gift Shop own the Brunel Shopping Centre, believes a lot of independent stores have learned to adapt to. 
He said: “In a sense we all know what we’re doing now. 

“Everything’s in place for online sales and click and collect so I think the message we want to share is shop local and for our customers to stay safe. Our customers can stay safe and still get their treats.” 

Lee added businesses would usually be seeing plenty of passing trade in January but admits it won’t be the same.

He said: “We don’t normally have a down-time,  it’s not like it would be at Christmas but January and February isn’t quiet. 

“It’s never the best being closed but for the safety of the public it’s the right time to do this.

“Since the announcement we’ve had loads of messages making sure we were okay and saying they would help support us online. 

“And that’s why we want to share the shop local message because that’ll help. Because we’ve been through this a lot before people are doing what they can and shopping local.”

North Swindon MP Justin Tomlinson has voiced his support for local businesses.

He said: "As a former local business owner myself, I absolutely understand the importance of backing local. 

"Their tireless work, dedication and often sacrifices are vital to providing local services and jobs across the town. 

"In these unprecedented times, it has never been more important to be backing local."

Town centre cabinet member councillor Dale Heenan also struck an optimistic note at the dawn of 2021.

He said: "Covid has been devastating for many retailers and restaurants during 2020, but Swindon is bouncing back. 

"More than 25 new shops have opened in the town centre over the last six months and the future will continue to be smaller, independent shops.

"I am most excited about the plans that the owners of the Brunel Centre have for a quality market that Swindon has never had before which is reminiscent of Borough Market and Spitalfields in London. 

"The council doesn't own the town centre and it is only by working in partnership with business can we see these things happen."