Is Dartmouth Bouncing Back?


that social distancing causes and many have pledged that they will return. Whilst caution prevails and the silver bullet of a vaccine is likely to be a long wait, South Devon will probably continue to be popular well into 2021.


The Dart Valley Railway Company usually carries over 200,000 visitors annually on both the river boats and steam railway. They didn’t properly reopen till July and the build-up of traffic was initially slow partly because safety measures significantly reduced capacity, especially on the trains and also because the river boats did not cruise beyond Greenway. By August, however, they were almost carrying the same numbers as last year and in September performed better than 2019. Although this recovery is most welcome, they have still had to carry significant ‘sunk’ costs and have yet to make up for over £1m of lost sales during lockdown.


Managing Director John Jones


commented, “Government support has been very welcome, but the furlough scheme only goes so far. We made sure we paid 100% of staff wages and held onto all our permanent staff although there have been less seasonal workers this summer. Our staff have been fantastic and very flexible as we have had to rethink the way we do things. Customers generally complied well with our social distancing measures and I was surprised how happy they were to travel on trains given the low number of travellers on the standard railways. Although we were very worried about our future prospects when lockdown began, it did give us the opportunity to experiment in ways we would not dare during a usual season e.g. we didn’t stop at intermediate stations between Dartmouth & Paignton meaning we could run more trains. It’s given us much food for thought for the future but we’ve proved we can be commercially viable with social distancing. I am quietly confident about next year.”


For Dart Marina Hotel’s Managing


Director Paul Downing, this year has been more difficult. Although demand has been high over the summer, he has had to make tough decisions about staffing levels, closing some services such as the spa and significantly restricting room availability. He explains, “We haven’t been able to run at full capacity and ensure a Covid safe experience in the dining room and elsewhere in the hotel. We reduced capacity, therefore, and adjusted our business model to cope with an expected tough winter ahead. We’ve stepped back and rethought what we do and how we do it. The industry is changing, even without Covid, but I think we will be better placed as a result by taking these tough decisions now.”


“It’s been incredibly hard work over the


summer and initially very nerve-racking. But we’ve had the best summer ever!”


For smaller hotels, such as Bayards


Cove Inn, they can be more flexible and the BCI has found ways to make the hotel safe yet only have a limited impact on the number of rooms sold or how many they can fit into the restaurant. Owner Charlie Deuchar said, “It’s been incredibly hard work over the summer and initially very nerve-racking. But we’ve had the best summer ever! The help we got from government was incredible and a life-saver. Forward bookings for the winter look strong but any loss of confidence if Covid restrictions tighten again will have a major adverse impact. We have had to be creative to keep the business safe – but things like opening a pop-up coffee bar in Royal Avenue gardens has worked fantastically”.


Liz Mosely of the Crab & Bucket pub on Dartmouth’s Embankment has also had to be creative to create a safe environment for staff and


customers. Business has been very strong over the summer - the saving grace being the ability to open up an outdoor space on the embankment. “Thank goodness this was possible – the weather has been kind to us and we serve more customers outside than we do inside. It’s caused a few staffing headaches and is very hard work. The 10pm curfew won’t affect us - we already close both the outside space and the pub at 9pm which works well, makes it easier for staff and is the proper thing to do for our neighbours. However, how we’ll manage through the winter is less certain. Hopefully, use of the outdoor space will become a permanent feature of the summer and help foster a Dartmouth café culture!”


Mark Readman who manages the Holland Group has been able to observe the impact of the crisis across a number of sectors – accommodation (Dartside Holidays), retail (Riverside Fashions) and hospitality (The Angel and Platform One). Whilst the group hasn’t been able to make up for lost business during lockdown, summer activity has been brisk across the group and he’s hopeful this momentum will carry the businesses into winter. “The timing on combining our two shops – Riverside and Sea Haven - has been very positive. We are reasonably confident that overall our businesses will do well next year. We have invested a lot in each of them recently, and whilst we have to be careful what further we spend, I am sure we will reap the benefits of this next year. All our staff are now unfurloughed. There seems to be a renewed interest in Dartmouth from visitors but it will be important that all businesses in the town do our best to remain open and not confine the ‘season’ just to the summer months.”


Other restaurants also report


strong summer takings: Pauline Shapland of Taylors describes it as “absolutely amazing – our busiest ever in 21 years! We were able to keep the reduction in covers to a minimum but still stay safe but bookings,


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