Podcast: The Honest Burgers duo on reopening, helping charities and their 80s-themed HIT classes

24-Apr-2020 - Last updated on 15-Jun-2021 at 10:56 GMT

Honest Burgers has been impressively proactive during the Coronavirus crisis, with initiatives including HIT classes and state of the nation addresses for furloughed staff, helping out charities and even finding its team work in other sectors.

The 38-strong group is also planning to gradually re-open its estate for delivery-only.

A wide range of safety measures will be introduced to protect both customers and staff including pre-shift temperature checks, social distancing where possible and the wearing of PPE.

Staff will not be obliged to work, with the group in the process of contacting its work force to see whether they want to return to work.

The pair stressed the importance of keeping staff engaged through the crisis.

Co-founder Tom Barton's HIT Classes are attracting nearly half the group's workforce while the state of the nation addresses are designed to let staff know what the people at the helm of the business have planned.

"The directors take it in turns once a week to go live and update the guys," says co-founder Philip Eeles. "We're all beavering away in the background trying to lay the road for the next few weeks and keep jobs secure and it's important that or staff hear from us."

"Transparency has always been a big thing for Honest Burgers. This Corona thing has amplified that."

UnitedWeStand has been created by William Reed hospitality titles BigHospitality, Restaurant magazine and Morning Advertiser and is supported by Britvic, Coca-Cola European Partners and Unilever Food Solutions.

To download this podcast via iTunes click here.