Last year I wrote an article entitled Sui Generis regarding the planning (or lack of it) at the then Pizza & Prosecco restaurant on Cinque Ports Street. The article prompted lots of opinions and comments. The business continued to trade and, occupying such a bold corner plot position, should have attracted lots of passing trade and prospered as a result. But it seems, without warning, all of a sudden this new venture ceased trading and there followed posters appearing in the windows advertising vacancies for staff for a variety of positions.
As far as I know the business never reopened but in its place appeared Babaganoush, advertising itself as “A taste of the Mediterranean”. New signage appeared but the old Pizza & Prosecco swinging wall sign remained in situ and now, Babaganoush has closed too. I tried to contact the owners on the number on their website to talk to them about the restaurant but there was no answer.
Regretably it seems Rye now has an empty premises and one less business available, a sign of the times perhaps?
Image Credits: Nick Forman .
Unfortunately like most hospitality venues in rye, pizza and Prosecco struggled to find enough staff to keep it running at the standard we wanted therefore we closed to focus purely on our other premises out of town. Let’s be a bit more understanding and aware of the world we now live in.
I’m really confused by constantly hearing about businesses struggling to find staff. Do we have zero unemployment in East Sussex?
The people who used to enjoy working for short seasonal periods all returned home after Brexit.
It’s expensive to live in Rye and there’s a limited local employee pool for the kind of people who want to work in hospitality; it’s not usually highly paid and it’s very hard work. Traveling long distances to get to a low paying job puts a lot of people off. Add to that a seeming drop in basic decency among customers who are much quicker to shout when they don’t get what they want and an ongoing pandemic that is still making people ill and often having to call in sick and you’ve got a problem for small businesses in small towns.
Since when has it been possible to match up all jobseekers with every available vacancy? If that were possible it would solve massive employment issues, everywhere in the world. It’s also not just a remuneration issue, it is also affected by aptitude and ability as well as issues around travelling to and from work (particularly when the hours are unsocial). Lastly, do not dismiss ambition; rightly or wrongly some young people hope that they may find something better ‘around the corner’.
Who can blame them if they don’t grab a poorly paid and, for them, boring job where they know the prospects are minimal. For balance, I know that others will find the jobs totally suited to them. Horses for courses…etc.
No job has to be boring. It’s what you make it. All jobs are a stepping stone towards the next thing and about having some pride in earning your own money and about navigating life. And there’s nothing wrong with working in the hospitality industry. Take The Globe Inn, that’s predominately staffed by a young British born crowd. They are cheerful, some live in Ashford. I have no idea if some of them are hoping to find something better ‘around the corner’, however what is important is that they are doing something positive with their lives now.
I’d like to clear up some general misconceptions about Hospitality. It is not anymore low paid, servile or unskilled, with anti social hours than many other jobs, at entry level. It’s not a stopgap for people who can’t find anything better. It’s a profession; you start on the first rung and work your way up the career ladder. It is totally inclusive, endlessly varied, has no age limits and is transferable around the world. Very few professions allow you to meet so many extraordinary people in one career lifetime. We need to encourage more young people to join this industry, not reinforce out of date tropes.