Cafe’s income drops by 40pc due to coronavirus - despite being in a park

Earlham Park in Norwich. Picture: Nick Butcher (Image: Archant © 2018)

Ingrid Henry, who co-owns the Earlham Park Café with her husband, said income had dropped by 40pc since reopening compared to the same period last year.

Measures put in place to curtail the spread of coronavirus has meant the café is not serving hot food, which normally accounts for a large part of income.

But despite reduced profit, Ms Henry said the number of customers had on average increased as people flocked to Earlham Park, often for the first time, during lockdown.

She said: “The income is no where near as much as it should be but our business is really hot food, like eggs, bacon and rolls. But we can’t do that at the moment as it’s just my husband working in the café, while I look after the children, and he isn’t able to both cook and serve customers.”

Earham Park Cafe has decided to remain closed inside since reopening after lockdown. Picture: Nick Butcher (Image: Archant © 2018)

“It has been difficult and a real struggle for all businesses. I think all owners would agree it’s hard to get business back to where it was before and none of us are sure what the future holds.

“But we have seen a lot more people come to the park and I’ve seen birthday parties and even hen parties being held.

“Every day, though, is different for us as we are entirely weather dependent. We also don’t get much business during the week and most of our trade takes place on the weekend. We’re a dog walkers café mainly.”

Cafés and restaurants were among businesses allowed to fully reopen on July 4, but Ms Henry and her husband have made the decision to keep the inside of the café closed.

She said: “We didn’t think it would be a great a thing and it is still closed. This is because it involves a lot of gathering of information with track and trace, cleaning tables constantly and we would have to move heavy tables out and we have no storage area.

“We are still not 100pc sure which way we are going to go for the winter months. We’re going to wait see what happens with the virus but safety for everyone will always come first.”