How has the pandemic affected you professionally?
We were one of the first pubs to decide to close – we shut on Sunday March 15. The managers and I came to the conclusion that if we were going to have to shut, we'd do it immediately and not stay open for a couple of days just to make a few quid. The timing couldn't have been worse as we had just received a big drink order for St Patrick's Day. Spirits are OK, also wine, but keg beer goes off after a couple of months, bottled beer after several months. So we put something on Facebook, offering a case of 12 bottles for £45 instead of around £60. Within an hour and a half had around 100 emails. I did it to turn the beer into cash. From the start, I kept my staff on full pay, using my rainy-day money. From this week, we can apply for government support.
What about personally?
I live alone and like my own company but I do miss being behind the bar, especially at the weekend. I have worked most Saturday nights for the past 36 years so am at something of a loose end. I walk to check on the pubs regularly, the security of the premises. My father is in his 80s, lives a couple of miles from me and is normally always out of the house, volunteering and playing golf. We were worried he wouldn't get the severity of the pandemic, but he seems to be OK. As a great football fan and season ticket holder at Cliftonville, I'm really missing the game.
Are there any positives?
Well, I've become much more tech-savvy. I used to give my staff payslips and pay them cash. Now I pay them via BACs and may continue to when this is over. There is a great sense of camaraderie now and I'm keeping in touch with friends in Chile, the United States and different parts of Australia.
How do you see the trade's future?
Talking to somebody in the trade yesterday, we said Belfast bars and hotels, which have been booming, should be OK but in the country, businesses may struggle. We are keeping engaged with our customers, which is important, via social media. My managers are looking after that as we didn't want to disappear for two, three or four months. We are running competitions online where you could win a voucher to spend when the bars reopen. How will we relaunch? I can't get my head round that yet and we've had no directives on this from London or Stormont.
What keeps you going?
Music. I can't play a note but the Sunflower has live music every night. This pandemic has really hit people working in the arts and the gigs had to be cancelled and they weren't on my payroll so I couldn't furlough them. For the first couple of weeks of the lockdown I paid the musicians, giving them cash and some beer to stream their performances on our website (sunflowerbelfast.com).
