Closure of pubs and restaurants was a 'terrifying moment' - Watermead Inn and Miya boss Kelvin Wong writes how coronavirus is affecting his businesses and the hospitality trade

We have asked Aylesbury people who are uniquely affected to the coronavirus crisis to write a column about their experience
By Kelvin Wong
Published 20th Apr 2020, 15:40 BST
Updated 20th Apr 2020, 15:42 BST
Kelvin WongKelvin Wong
Kelvin Wong

Kelvin Wong, owner of The Watermead Inn and Miya writes about making positive moments in what is a 'terrifying' situation for his businesses and many like them...

The announcement of the closure of pubs and restaurants on Friday 20th March was a terrifying moment for us, although we realised it had to be done to stop the spread of infection we knew that the financial impact on us would be catastrophic.

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Only opening the Watermead ​Inn's sister restaurant 'Miya ​Japanese grill and bar' in the town centre last year meant that we were still building the business and recovering from the huge costs that it took to open. Setting up a restaurant in Aylesbury's old police station did not come cheap and we were just building up clientele too.

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Kelvin WongKelvin Wong
Kelvin Wong

The Watermead Inn, set on the Watermead lake is the 'go to' place for Aylesbury residents when the sun is shining and on bank holidays. These are the days that we ​recoup the losses made over the winter months and prepare for our busy season where we really make our profit.We knew instantly that this year, we would loose a good proportion of this.

My thoughts initially rose to my 45 staff over the two establishments. How was I going to pay those? So far we have managed ​and when help from the government was announce, it was a huge weight off of my shoulders.

There will be a long recovery process after this and it is my strongest hope that we don't fall to the same fate of many restauranters in Italy who have already lost their businesses and livelihoods. Despite the financial impact on us in loosing everything we have ​opted not to sit around and wait for the outcome. Instead we have chosen to do what we are capable of to help out with this situation. Hence the set up of the Watermead "how can we help" campaign.

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For staff wellbeing and to help others I have set up a food and necessities delivery service ​for the elderly and most in need as well as NHS staff and other key workers. This is ​with the help of volunteers from the Watermead events committee who organise 'Larks by the Lake' and 'Films on the Field' every year , other volunteers and people who have donated to our great cause

We now have over 100 households that we are delivering ​to and taking care of . Reading the message coming through there are some desperate situations out there. We are also trying to help the brave and courageous NHS staff and other critical workers so that they can stay out of shops.

We have set up a 'Gofundme' account and people have been very generous but if you are able to help please go to: https://www.gofundme.com/f/watermead-inn-covid19-support?utm_source=widget&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=p_cp+share-sheet​

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