Will London’s West End be able to bounce back?
"Hello London" says the brightly optimistic 12-foot yellow sign on the piazza in Covent Garden. Workmen add finishing touches to the paint as lorries arrive with goods for shops, beer barrels, a caseload of tonic is wheeled across the cobbles. After being desolate for so long - the heart of London is getting ready to put on a show, writes Sky’s home editor Jason Farrell.
Everyone hopes 12 April will mark the beginning of the recovery. By Monday, the famous former flower market will have 800 alfresco restaurant seats, outdoor heaters and large umbrellas, waiters, fine food, alcohol and, they hope, lots of punters.
But are Londoners going to flock down - or have they become too accustomed now to Deliveroo and Amazon?
Director of Covent Garden Michelle McGrath thinks not.
"Covent Garden has been around for 500 years we’re very confident we will be around for a very long time," she said. "I think both of those things can coexist and every time we’ve had a lockdown and we’ve had an easing of lockdown what we’ve seen is restaurants full, shops full, queues to get in, people connecting with each other on a human level - but also here to experience the best of London."
But the covered market, whilst being allowed to reopen on the 12th, won’t yet.
Trader Andy Graham, 65, who has worked on the stalls since 1978 says last summer they didn’t have enough business to make it worthwhile.
"When we did come back, the market was desolate the West End was desolate," he said. "There were no foreign tourists and the government was saying don’t come to the centre.
"Now, we’re entitled to reopen, but there’s no museums to go to, there’s no theatres to go to. There no point me opening my business till there’s a reasonable footfall."
https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMiqAFodHRwczovL25ld3Muc2t5LmNvbS9zdG9yeS9jb3ZpZC1uZXdzLWxpdmUtbGF0ZXN0LXVrLXVwZGF0ZXMtbG9ja2Rvd24tZWFzZXMtc2lnbmlmaWNhbnRseS1pbi1lbmdsYW5kLXRvbW9ycm93LXdpdGgtcHVicy1zZXQtdG8tc2VydmUtdGhlaXItZmlyc3QtcGludHMtb3V0ZG9vcnMtMTIyNzIyNTLSAQA?oc=5
2021-04-11 09:52:29Z
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