Chef Paul Ainsworth, owner of six sites, had received a text message from his General Manager at The Mariners last week and he's shared it.
It said, 'Disappointing we have 27 no shows today' and they were broken down as x9 covers, 2x covers, 7x covers, one party had two tables reserved for x5 and x4 covers.
Ainsworth responded, 'After all the awareness generated these last couple of days and inspired by @cheftomkerridge I can’t believe I’ve just got this message from @paul_dodd14 @marinersinrock
'After the efforts our teams have put in to making our restaurants a safe environment and the money Emma and I have spent to make it possible. Disappointed doesn’t even cut it! To those 27 people who thought it was ok not to show tonight and that no one would miss you. You are very wrong. We were ready for you. The restaurant rota had been written for you. The team were waiting to welcome and take care of you.
'Such a shame you thought this was an ok thing to do. We currently employ a 132 family members, we haven’t made one single redundancy, these people rely on Emma and I to pay their mortgages, rents, bills and many of them are the sole income earners for their families. So the number of people you are affecting is far greater than the 132 employed.
'I believe education is the route to many big issues in life and this has been an issue in hospitality for a very long time. Hopefully this post can help, even if one person reads this and thinks, I’m actually that person, then that’s a start. This post is insight to the real cost of a NO SHOW.'