On Monday 19th July, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom announced that England’s so-called ‘Freedom Day’ is now upon us. From today, a relaxing of the laws around the pandemic has taken place, meaning that restrictions on pubs, restaurants and venues have loosened up significantly. Originally scheduled for the 21st of June and then delayed until July, this day has been a long time coming. And everyone hopes that things will continue to improve from now on.
No longer is table service required in venues, masks are ‘advised and recommended’ rather than ‘legally required’ indoors, and there are no longer restrictions on numbers when it comes to large events – whether indoors or outdoors.
While Coronavirus cases continue to soar across the country, many people are deciding to remain cautious for the time being. There is also a concern around workforces having to isolate if and when they are alerted by the ‘Track and Trace’ system – some places have had to close down altogether due to lack of enough staff to stay open. But nevertheless, the events industry is back and open for business, and we all hope that things continue to improve along the same trajectory.
As the events industry starts to recover from the last 18 months of disruption, events company managers will be working hard to ensure the safety of staff and customers and to make sure that any remaining restrictions are followed. That includes maintaining a high level of cleanliness for toilets and portable toilets etc at all times (which should also always be stocked with plenty of toilet roll and hand wash/sanitiser.
While we are not out of the woods with the Covid-19 pandemic just yet, and a return to lockdown at some point is not impossible, there is good reason for the events industry to be cautiously optimistic about the future. Over the past couple of years, the industry has proved itself to be a remarkably resilient and versatile one, able to diversify and to flex to new rules and regulations at a moment’s notice. Staff that have been furloughed have made a return to work, full of fresh and new ideas. Of course, some staff have been lost along the way, so there will need to be a big recruitment drive to get fresh talent into the events and hospitality industry in order to keep it well staffed and efficiently run.
We at Wight Event Toilets all hope that you are able to make the most of a summer of events large and small in a safe but enjoyable way. While things are a long way off ‘normal’ just yet, this is at least a step in the right direction.
