Not sure how the meteorologists will rate the summer we’ve just experienced, short of it being all over the place. Hardly ideal for the many al fresco parties staged but we just about managed to get through it all with valuable lessons learnt and enhanced plans for future outdoor events…whatever the English weather.

With Christmas now just a couple of months away, our December diary is constantly to hand - particularly reassuring to witness so many of you returning with your various clubs and societies that have helped support us for so many years.

We’re open every day throughout the festive period with our opening hours on the website. Christmas Eve and Boxing Day, when we offer our usual a la carte menu, have this year attracted a similar level of interest as Christmas Day with now only very limited availability as is the case with New Year’s Eve. Chris Till’s Christmas Swingalong lunchtime on 21st November sold out weeks ago.

Bookings for October and November are shaping up nicely too, especially at the weekends with plenty of new faces. Some new autumnal additions to our a la carte menu this week means that the usual offer of a complimentary bottle of wine to the value of £50 is once again available- valid until 20th October, one bottle per duration of the offer per paid up Club Bartellas member please.

Latest Government interference in business regarding the fair sharing and distribution of tips does at least help expose those hospitality operators who have been ripping off their staff as well as their customers for years. For your reassurance, service charges or tips at Bartellas whether left in cash or on a card have always been added to the weekly “staff tronc”, to be then fairly distributed the very next week across all of the front and back of house staff. That’s one of the reasons why we’ve rarely experienced a problem recruiting and retaining such fabulous staff, our greatest asset.

HMRC insist that income tax is deducted, which we apply at 20% from that voluntary payment, so I guess it won’t be too long before an additional opportunity to extract both employer and employee national insurance from your thoughtful and appreciative gift is seized, again using us as unpaid tax collectors. Meanwhile we battle on through all the adversities in business we encounter whilst striving to offer an agreeable sanctuary away from all the calamities and nonsense in life.

We are told full service service restaurants are currently closing in the UK at the rate of five per week. Unless one is loving the challenge of running such a highly geared and susceptible business it’s currently not worth all the effort carrying on. Your loyal support continues to be fantastic but there’s a limit to how long hospitality operators can continue to be treated as busy fools by such clueless and cosseted career gravy trainers in power.

Hope to welcome you back to Bartellas very soon

As ever,

Ian

Ian@bartellas.com