Adam Brooks Post-Production 3

Adam Brookes, a publican and activist, reflects on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the hospitality industry. He discusses how businesses were forced to close, leading to layoffs and closures. The crisis also brought about an energy crisis and higher living costs. However, Adam emphasizes that help is available for business owners facing challenges such as high energy bills, declining footfall, and confusing legislation. The webinar aims to provide practical solutions and a supportive network for businesses to survive and thrive post-COVID. Adam encourages sharing what is learned to benefit others. Hello, my name is Adam Brookes. I'm a publican with a passion for hospitality and I'm equally passionate about my activism work, bringing social issues into the spotlight. I often get sentimental about the good old days in pubs, days when lots of customers would go to the pub, meet friends, enjoy the atmosphere, and because food and drink was affordable back then, they'd come back regularly. But all that changed in 2020. For me and others like me, this was just the beginning of the nightmare. Quickly, we were ordered to close our venues to the public. Every business in hospitality had to comply or else. The COVID crisis soon grew into a worldwide international political crisis. Predictably, this led to a chain reaction with a soon-to-follow energy crisis bringing huge energy bills. This enormously stressful time was relentless. Business owners had no choice but to make painful decisions. Loyal staff were laid off through no fault of their own. Hospitality businesses were not only closing their doors, many were folding their businesses too. In all this gloom, just when it seemed you couldn't get worse, it did. The harsh cost of living crisis was spreading everywhere. People were skimmed. Business owners and customers were, and still are, in the same boat, being casualties of disreputable forces. However, it doesn't have to remain this way. Because at heart, most people want to help each other. So the business owner, you may be saying, what about my crippling big energy bills? Help is available. What about falling footfall? Help is available. What about optimising all my business operations? Help is available. What about confusing legislation? Help is available. The list goes on. You are not alone in this post-COVID nightmare. On this webinar, we have experts who can help your company survive and thrive again. Today, you will learn practical and demonstrable solutions to apply to your business. Even better, you will discover a network to provide ongoing help and support. Please share what you learn today because I guarantee others will appreciate it. Now over to the panel.