Conversations with Aasia Baig, Founder of Centenary Lounge

The food & drink hospitality sector is amongst the hardest hit by COVID-19 and with the new tier lockdown system in place, it makes it incredibly hard for the industry to plan for the future.

Centenary Lounge is an award-winning collection of bistros situated in Worcester and Birmingham. Nostalgic Art Deco inspired settings recapture the glamour of the 1930s Great Western railways and provide the perfect setting to enjoy brunch, afternoon tea or evening dining.

In 2003, Birmingham Moor St Station reopened after extensive restoration by Chiltern Railways. When Aasia visited the station looking for an empty unit where she could open a quality cafe, she fell in love with the charming quaint station.

This encouraged her to learn about the history of the railways and the refreshment rooms and thus the idea of recreating a 1930s Great Western Railway inspired refreshment room was born!

Rob Pearce and Emily Rowe had a chat with Aasia, Owner & Founder of Centenary Lounge, to find out how she has diversified her business, and her thoughts on the future of the food and drink industry.

How have you had to adapt your business since the COVID restrictions have been implemented?

"It was quite odd actually as back in January 2020 we looked into developing our home delivery service, which we thought would complement our giftware and crockery items as a full package experience.

Then when the global pandemic hit in March, we had to quickly put that idea to the top of our list!

January to March was very event focused for us and the diary was jam packed, as we had only opened the Worcester restaurant last April. 
We worked out the marketplace in Worcester and realised our customers loved to be in a different ambience with an art deco feel to have their events, birthdays, and celebrations.

It was a great few months for us and created a bit of a buzz, but we have had to scrap that for the time being whilst we aren’t allowed to meet in groups. Instead we have launched the co working incentive for those working from home but looking for a reprieve every now and then!

Our afternoon tea home deliveries were our biggest seller during May and June.

We noticed that towards the end of June we got a bit quieter and we think this was due to the larger chains starting to offer takeout food. This was when we decided to open our physical doors and offer take away food and cocktails, we even had a little table out the front! 

Our customers were really supportive during lockdown, so we were very lucky."
 

You mention your customers, but what about your staff? Were they happy to come back to work?

"We lost our head chef and manager, as they were a husband and wife team from Portugal.

Their support system was back there, so they had to leave to avoid being isolated in the UK.

This was a real shame, but it meant that we didn’t have to cut any hours back as they could be divided across the team.

The team were excited to come back to work, mainly because they were eating too much being stuck at home and couldn’t fit into their uniform!"

Did you replace the head chef?

"Yes, luckily there were a lot of top-quality chefs looking for work!

Our new chef had worked in London, but his restaurant is remaining closed, so he moved back to Worcester where he is from.

When I put out a job application, I usually get a lot of interest and invite 20-30 people for an interview, but only 5-10 show up. This time 28 people showed up! We had the pick of the bunch!

It just shows how COVID has affected employment and how desperate people are for work."

It must be awfully difficult to manage staff and costs when there is a lot of uncertainty around local lockdowns and restaurants closing?

"Absolutely, you don’t know which way to turn.

Even down to stock management, you don’t know how much you will actually sell due to last minute cancellations from people who have caught COVID or have had to self isolate.

We have been advised to take deposits, but I didn’t want to go down that road as it’s quite ruthless, and I don’t want our customers to think we don’t trust them."

What are your thoughts on the future of the restaurant trade?

"It’s a tough question!

At the start of lockdown, I was speaking to my bank manager and he said you’ve just got to get through the next three months.

I said it’s not the next few months I’m worried about, it’s the future I’m scared of!

We’ve had a lot of help from the government to get us through, but I think we will see the impact of the virus in the next few years. It is survival of the fittest and we hope our afternoon tea service is our saving grace. 

You have to look at every single aspect of your business and work out where you can make cuts, negotiate rents, and speak to your lenders. It’s important, probably more than ever, to communicate with all your creditors including your suppliers.

Survival of the fittest also presents opportunity, as it makes you leaner… but meaner to begin with! To be mean to be lean!"

Tell us more about your afternoon tea service…

"It is really exciting actually as our afternoon tea went national!

We had enquiries from Kent, Dorset and Devon as they loved our theme and the concept of what we do.

One enquiry came through an email from a lady whose father loves the railway and thought our afternoon tea would be perfect for him.

We then did some research and found out that there was only one other company in the UK that does a national afternoon tea service.

This prompted us to expand our afternoon tea delivery service and combine it with our crockery & memorabilia to create themed hampers on our website… just in time for Christmas!

Take away is great, but doesn’t quite fit what Centenary Lounge is all about as we want to give our customers the full experience.

When they open the hamper, there will be an original photograph of a 1930s railway carriage, complete with brochure and our Art Deco branding. We have really paid attention to the detail.

The hamper will be a shout out to Worcestershire, as we will be using local suppliers wherever possible and including them on the ingredients list. Our scones, sandwiches and some cakes are also made by our team in our cafe in Worcester.

We want our customers to know and be reassured that we have packed the hampers and supported independent businesses.  We felt this was an opportunity to promote Worcestershire nationally."

The hampers will make great gifts and with Christmas around the corner, what better time to check them out. You can find out more at here.