The Sound Lounge in Morden is a Vegan restaurant and music bar in the centre of town opposite the Civic Centre. Owner, Hannah White, tells us about how lockdown has been for her business and what it is like to be serving customers again.
“We closed at the end of December when we were put into Tier 4 by the Government. We were delighted to welcome customers back, outside only of course, on Thursday 15th April.
“The Tier 4 restrictions and closures werequite devastating. We had a new team in place and it was hard to have to cancel shifts. The food stocked in our fridges all went to waste and we had to cancel an entire programme of live music events. We refunded ticket holders which was hard enough. It was even harder telling artists and musicians who were effectively recovering from the previous 9 months of having no-work, that this was happening all over again.
“We signed up to JustEat and Deliveroo in an attempt to keep things ticking along and to keep staff in work at a reduced and distanced capacity but it was still tough.
“But now we are back again and it feels emotional! We were all quite scared about reopening – worrying whether we could do it, speak to people and deliver a service after what felt like such a long time. We were also worried that nobody would turn up! But it has been brilliant, people have been turning up and seeing faces we knew from before lockdown has been amazing. It means so much that people put themselves out to support a local, independent business like ours. It’s really nice to hear how people are too and just to reconnect with the community again!
At the moment we are serving food and drink outside only but hope to be welcoming people back inside from 17th May when live music is permitted too. Our first gig is booked for Friday 21st May, with a local band called Lavender Hill who are launching their album.
The Sound Lounge is open Thursday to Saturday 12 noon to 10pm and Sunday 12 noon to 5pm. You can book in advance via http://www.thesoundlounge.org.uk to guarantee a space but people can turn up on the night and pay on the door.
Email: info@thesoundlounge.org.uk or visit www.thesoundlounge.org.uk
Tel 020 8770 3172