Survive and thrive: KERB hopes to bring some flavour to the streets
London’s businesses have been forced to weather a storm they never saw coming, but many have pivoted to new ways of doing business.
Today, Simon Mitchell – CEO of street food pioneers KERB – writes for Morning Wire on his hopes for the future, inside and outside their new Covent Garden flagship
Rewind 11 weeks ago to the 17th March. We called a trader meeting at Seven Dials Market to discuss the government’s announcement that people should avoid restaurants. Unanimously, it was decided that doors would be shut that evening – our lunch markets followed suit and we haven’t sold a dish since.
The effect: our traders unable to trade in the blink of an eye. So in a quick response and 72 hours into lockdown, we launched our Keep the wheels turning initiative. The idea being to give street food traders a place to discuss how we might all get through this and a platform to showcase their pivots, essentially keeping our trader community supported in a time of such disarray.
Some of our members have managed to adapt their offering by way of DIY meal kits and home delivery, some have used their infrastructure to support the NHS and key workers. It’s been inspiring to see them collaborate on some of these ideas and share information on how to access the government schemes and stories of what has and hasn’t worked. More than ever we have seen the value of community and collaboration between our members. We’ve also been delving into the thoughts of key industry leaders on our podcast KERB on the Inside hosted by our founder, Petra Barran.
Now, we’re looking ahead and starting to think about how and when we might reopen. ‘Markets’ could in theory return now, except our lunch markets are all situated in high density office environments which currently resemble ghost towns. We firmly believe the outdoor nature of our markets means they are about as safe a hospitality environment as you can find, and we are on the hunt for sites to open where there is currently sufficient footfall and we could bring a bit of flavour to the streets.
Similarly, Seven Dials Market, our 24,000 sq. ft. indoor food hall in the heart of Central London launched last September, may be able to open next month, but with offices deserted and international tourists unable to visit we aren’t confident as it stands of being able to generate enough business to support the 23 businesses we house. Any form of physical distancing also won’t work for us. We need to be at capacity and the ethos of the market we have built is fun, so we would rather wait until such a time as we can open successfully and bring back the energy and excitement we are famous for.
So where do we go from here? There is talk of pedestrianising the streets of Seven Dials to allow us to trade outside this summer. We would love that. It’s what we do best and would offer customers a safe and fun way to enjoy the market and our traders the opportunity to do what they do best – selling delicious, high quality food to Londoners. We need to strike a balance between safety and the creation of campaigns encouraging people back out with the same enthusiasm that we scared everyone to obey the lock down.
We are hopeful of opening some outdoor markets in the near future and are looking forward to welcoming back people who are keen to get outside and support London’s incredible independent food community. In the wake of Covid-19, we could also see the opportunity for new independent talent to come through, of which we welcome into our community. Longer term we will have to be patient, and I’m hopeful that through collaboration with local government, our Landlords, our trader community and the public we can reassure people that Seven Dials Market and similar venues across London are safe, delicious and worthy of their support.
My hope is that in the ‘new normal’ people think twice about where they spend their money and seek out the best that London has to offer. We are home to many, many creative, diverse and independent hospitality businesses and the sooner they can get back to what they do best, the better.