Adversity Inspires Innovation in Contract Furniture Group
Managing Director Richard Bellamy reflects on a year to forget
When future history students analyse the effects of the outbreak of Covid-19, I sincerely hope 2020 is recognised as the worst the hospitality industry has had to endure. At the time of writing, vaccine development and distribution seem imminent, and the hope is we will soon start rebuilding the lives we potentially took for granted. I’m optimistic the recent damage to pubs, clubs, restaurants, hotels, leisure outlets and any other venues is not irreparable, and that these ‘unprecedented’ circumstances won’t become any form of ‘normality’ for coming generations.
Hospitality has suffered terribly, and forced restrictions and closures have given operators very little room to adapt. Installing safety equipment and repurposing premises to offer food delivery and collection saved many businesses, but thousands of outlets without this option have closed their doors – some for good.
As a key supplier for many of our customers, we felt obliged to find ways to help overcome the challenges social distancing, the rule of six and various other new regulations posed to venues. Screens addressed some issues around maintaining capacity – but how to supply them quickly, in hugely varying forms, to suit wildly diverse environments, at an affordable cost, and in the midst of a national shortage of Perspex, was a complex issue. Our craftsmen and carpenters turned their hands from making bespoke furniture pieces to creating unique PPE items to enable venues to open when lockdown was lifted. With the production of screens now standard procedure, we are increasingly specifying and installing technology to enable venues to make more of their outdoor spaces. We’ve found ways to create structures that provide well lit and heated external areas for socialising in the winter - quickly opened up to let the light and warmth of the sun. I suspect these screens and structures will be joined by further innovations as sites are asked to continually modify their environment in-line with the latest advice and government guidance.
These troubled times have given our business the impetus to reinvent itself. Rather than contracting to consolidate our position as a market leader, we find our offering expanding to meet everchanging requirements. We don’t expect that evolution to stop, and as new measures are tested, know that the ingenuity we’ve shown will be a key differentiator. We are no longer a contract furniture and fixings supplier, but have grown to become a true solutions provider. The team here has risen to meet the challenges our customers now face, and despite the ongoing uncertainty, I can proudly say the people that have come to rely on us can continue to do so – whatever the next round of Covid combat brings.
To find out more about our products and services please visit: https://www.contractfurniture.co.uk/