ECJ EUROPEAN Cleaning Journal

Most UK people who regularly visit pubs and restaurants will want to see social distancing and sanitisation measures "overtly put in place" before they will feel comfortable venturing back, a focus group has revealed.

And those in at-risk categories or living with younger or older family members would need "a lot of reassurance to persuade them to return" according to UK research by market research agency Service Monitor.

A cross-section of Britain's frequent pub and restaurant guests were quizzed online by Service Monitor to assess how Covid-19 will impact the hospitality sector.

The results revealed that the majority of diners would avoid eating and drinking out until there a consistent drop in infection and death rates was recorded - regardless of any new measures put in place.

However, a tranche of focus group participants who had no underlying health issues said they were "very keen to get back" to their favourite hospitality venues and planned to visit a pub or restaurant immediately after they reopened.

The chief concern for customers was the fear of being too close to other people, irrespective of the number of sanitising stations available. And they felt the onus would be on management to control guest numbers and influence customer behaviour in terms of maintaining a safe distance.

UK environment secretary George Eustice has indicated that restrictions on hospitality businesses in England would be eased in July at the earliest, with those facilities with outdoor eating and drinking areas likely to be among the first to reopen.